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Parent Participation in Education: Ways of Fostering School-Home Co-operation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

J.L. Cotterell
J.L. Cotterell*
Affiliation:
Department of Education, University of Qld
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Extract

Those involved in educational programs with Aboriginal children have noted that the parents have little contact with the schools, and feel that they are unable to help their children with their school work, even where they express interest in their children’s school progress.

In her comprehensive study of the Aboriginal Secondary Grants Scheme, Watts (1976) reported that fewer than 40% of parents said that they helped their children with their schoolwork, and the main reason they gave for not helping was that they did not feel able to. Furthermore, the majority of Aboriginal parents had little contact with the school: 70% stated that they had not met their children’s teachers. These figures refer to parents of high school children, but it seems unlikely that the pattern would be greatly different if home-school contacts at the primary level were investigated. Watts (1975:48) commented that schools have done little to involve parents in a meaningful way in the education of their children, and so parents remain unaware of the practical ways in which they could help their children and support them in their schooling. A great gulf is fixed between the home and the school, to the disadvantage of many children in Australian society.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 13 , Issue 5 , November 1985 , pp. 22 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

Cotterell, J.L.: Some Effects of the Introduction of Literature into the Homes of Aboriginal Children Ages Six to Ten Years. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, University of Queensland, 1974.Google Scholar
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Watts, B.H., and Henry, M.B.: Focus on Parent/Child. Extending the Teaching Competence of Urban Aboriginal Mothers. ERDC Report No.14, AGPS, Canberra, 1978Google Scholar