Areas for Reforming and Complementing the Family and School Interaction

Abstract

Background: The Family and School Interaction (FSI) is undoubtedly very effective in promoting the education of children in a society, but this interaction requires the adoption of educational goals as well as frameworks that can produce the best educational outcomes. The educational goals and frameworks, on the one hand, depend on the theoretical foundations and our view of the educational role and position of the family and its relation to that of the school, and on the other hand the environmental conditions and opportunities or challenges for the FSI. Aim: The overall purpose of the present study is to explore the areas and ways of reforming and complementing the FSI. Methods: The study is a qualitative research relying on analyzing the views of Iranian family and education experts. The areas under consideration for reforming and complementing the FSI are the school curricula, and the study examines the role of the family in the most important elements of a curriculum, namely objectives, content, method and evaluation. Results: The results show that most scholars, professionals, principals, and teachers consider the educational role of the family and its contribution to school education, but their beliefs about this role and its status in relation to that of the school are still unclear. They have often become accustomed to giving the less importance to the family and the most important to the school, and the curricula are often formulated without considering the views and expectations of the family and without parental involvement. Conclusion: The consideration of the real role of the family and its lasting effects have important implications, including reforming the family education programs, reforming the academic education and in-service teacher trainings, modifying the FSI models, rationalizing the family interventions in school affairs, as well as enhancing the students’ self-esteem and their sense of belonging to school.

Parent–school-community relationship: a comparative study of highly effective schools and schools with low effectiveness in Andalusia

“…It is important for parents to receive training that makes them realise the importance of their participation in schools, and the benefits for their children's educational achievement (Alamolhoda, 2020). In this aspect, schools' parent-teacher associations (PTAs) play a crucial role, as they are in the intermediate space between parents and the school environment, and are a key element in the dynamism of the school (Epstein et al, 2019;Fernández-Freire Álvarez et al, 2020).…”

“…Due to the importance of parental involvement in schools, and to ensure that this involvement is of the highest quality, universities where future teachers are trained and teacher training centres should include programmes that promote the benefits of parental involvement and develop specific content, techniques and tools for teachers to be able to involve parents in schools (Alamolhoda, 2020;Burriel, 2022). Studies affirm that university curricula do not adequately address the importance of a good parent-school relationship (Muñoz and Hernández, 2017), which results in a lack of training for teachers on this important issue in their work.…”

Improving the Model of Family-School Interaction with the Help of Digital Education

“…The positive view of family-school interaction (FSI) is a developing approach and not only educators but also most policy makers, planners, and even many principals and teachers agree that FSI has useful educational results (J. Alamolhoda, 2020). Most experts and specialists consider "family educational participation in school education" a necessity and the only discussion is about how and to what extent should this type of participation take place.…”