Integrating parents and children in school education

Many parents think that their duty to their children’s education is limited to choosing a good school with expensive tuition.

They are wrong.

Parents directly involved in their children’s education have children who fare better in school. According to the study “The Family Engagement Partnership,” written by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, youngsters whose parents take an active role in their education skip school 20% less, have higher self-esteem and focus more in class, have better behavior, and get higher grades.

However, since 2016, according to Blackboard, it has been observed that parents have become less and less engaged in family education all over the world — something intensified by the social isolation caused by the 2020 pandemic. In cases in which children have been removed from the school environment, that reality is redoubled.

This can be costly for children. Not only are the benefits we pointed out above lost, but damages are amplified. Less parental presence in education means lower grades, bad behavior, and an uncertain future.

Education experts have implemented interesting strategies to reverse this scenario. In this article, I list at least five that I have heard about being implemented with positive results.

The list can serve to inspire the creation of new tools and methodologies to address the issue and to get the ball rolling on this fundamental debate.

Create connections between parents and schools

It is very important that parents are integrated into the school routine, especially in the early years of education. In a hybrid education context, there are several options that can be considered.

The most immediate would be the use of videoconferencing, via Google Meets or Zoom. In this respect, we are facing yet another potential that was already present before the pandemic, but in a suboptimal way. This type of relationship allows not only a closer relationship between parents and school, but is also an added incentive for the former, given the economy of time with travel, among other practicalities.

In a model that is both more traditional and daring, schools can also consider making home visits to students. Despite involving greater investment by the institutions, the gain from this physical presence in terms of integration between parents and school tends to be very positive.

Aligning students’ and parents’ schedules

We can’t fool ourselves: people are working more and more. In fact, a survey by Business News Daily indicates that remote workers work 1.4× more than those who work presentially.

Hence the importance of aligning schedules so that parents can make better use of their time and not neglect their children’s education. This can be done either by scheduling talks through alternative avenues, or by producing and disseminating materials that parents can watch outside of office hours that inform about the content their children are studying. It also includes making report cards and reports accessible, making everyone’s life as easy as possible.

Online communication

There’s no denying it: digitization makes online the main access route between school and parents. You need to take advantage of this opportunity. There are several applications and websites that can serve as an integration route between these two worlds.

The pandemic has shown that much that was once thought to depend on physical presence was not. In the same way that many work teams have improved their performance by working remotely, it is also possible to increase the integration of parents with schools by using the right tools.

Points of support

It is very easy for parents to feel lost in their children’s education, especially as they readapt to less “traditional” education models, such as hybrid education.

We need to create ways of support and communication that make the situation easier for parents. These include overhauling websites, stepping up communication via apps, using messaging, chatbots, and more traditional avenues like phone and email.

Focus on the website

Photos of school activities, calendars, newsletters, and texts explaining the methodology and work are excellent ways to show parents what is happening in their children’s education. Interactive material should also be considered. This, coupled with discussion forums and conversations between parents and teachers, is an excellent way to turn the youngsters’ education into something integrated and holistic.

Education is the future. Family and school must be on the same page — which means that readapting to the needs of the post-pandemic world is an urgency.

Small initiatives, like the ones I mentioned, can have a significant impact on the quality and engagement of families with their students’ education.

Are we ready for the future?