Although there are
many classifications of PI types, Epstein's classification appears to
be the most influential in the PI literature, and therefore it is worthwhile
to explore her classification in more details. According to Joyce Epstein
and her colleges from Johns Hopkins University, there are six types of
involvement:
- Parenting. This
category includes the basic responsibilities of families--such as
providing housing, health care, nutrition, clothing, and safety, and
creating home conditions that support children's learning (e.g., purchasing
necessary books and other school supply, providing a place to study,
etc.). Parenting also implies that parents are warm and responsive
to their children, communicate with them and support their development.
- Communicating.
This type of involvement concerns the basic responsibilities of schools,
including establishing two-way communication between family and school.
This type of involvement assumes that schools keep parents informed
about school matters by sending newsletters or report cards, calling,
e-mailing or visiting parents, etc. In addition, parents can also
address their concerns to the teacher or school administration both
through contacting them directly or through correspondence.
- Volunteering. According
to Brent (2000), the term "volunteer" usually refers to
persons who devote their spare time to work on a routine basis without
monetary compensation, usually under the direction of a school employee,
in support of educational activities and school operations. He clarifies,
however, that parental engagement in PTA, PTO or other types of decision-making
organizations involving parents, teachers and, perhaps students and
other community members, is not volunteering.
-
Learning
at home. This type of involvement suggests that parents are
involved in curriculum-related activities occurring at home (e.g.,
assisting with homework, discussing books with their child, brainstorming
ideas for school projects).
Figure 1
Image provided
by the author
- Decision making.
Parents who are involved at this level advocate children's interests.
These parents often participate in PTA, PTSA, advisory councils and
committees.
- Collaborating with
the community. This type of involvement relies on understanding
that helping the community is the best investment (National PTA, 1998).
It assumes that different types of community organizations contribute
to schools, students, and families (Epstein et al, 1995, 1997).
1.2 Family-school communication
as a key component of PI
Two-way school-family communication
is a factor that influences other types of PI. Schools often communicate
with parents to inform them about what their children may need in school
(e.g., school supplies). Many parents also like it when the school informs
them of upcoming tests, recommends what environment can be helpful for
a child to be ready for such a challenge, or provides other parenting
tips. The volunteering form of PI also depends on family-school communication.
Unless the school asks parents to support curricular or extracurricular
activities, parents will never know what type of assistance they can
offer to the school. Learning at home relies on family-school communication
because without understanding the purpose of learning particular material,
parents cannot adequately help their children with homework.
The decision-making and collaborating
with community types of involvement also assume that parents and other
community members and organizations are aware of the problems the school
has and how they can approach the school with their concerns. Moreover,
if the school depicts community members spending their time and other
resources to improve the school, it demonstrates that parents are also
welcomed in the school. The recognition of parents can help not only
to extend the activity of exceptionally involved community members,
but can also empower other members of the community to benefit the school.
1.3 Traditional strategies to promote PI
Some parents initiate their
contacts with schools themselves, and thus schools never find it difficult
to reach out to those parents. Many parents however, never interact
with the school unless the school works hard to promote parental engagement
in their child's schooling (Chavkin, 1993; Moles, 2000). Schools use
a variety of strategies to communicate with families. Traditionally,
schools send students' report cards, school newsletters or community
updates, or organize events for the entire family or just for the parents.
Each strategy for fostering PI can provide specific benefits, but each
strategy also has barriers for its implementation. For example, schools
can discover that parents in their communities disregard all correspondence
they receive from schools and that parents may be out of their homes
during the daytime, the most convenient time for teachers to call parents.
Many traditional strategies
for promoting PI rely heavily on parents' ability to visit their child's
school. Most workshops and other events are held in the school, and
if parents cannot attend the sessions at the particular time and date,
there is little parents and schools can do. Today, many families have
no time to schedule a meeting with their child's teachers or to attend
school events. Face-to-face communication becomes rare. A national study
on PI conducted in 1997 by the National Opinion Research at the University
of Chicago discovered that school newsletters and telephone calls home
from teachers and administrators had become the most common types of
family-school interactions. Correspondingly, 75% and 72% of parents
reported these types of communication. In contrast, the 1996 survey
on family and school partnerships conducted by the U.S. Department of
Education in which 810 elementary schools were polled, found that only
49% of the schools reported that most or all of parents attend open
house or back-to-school night, about 57% attended parent-teacher conferences,
36% attended arts events and 19% attend science fairs or academic demonstrations
(Blanchard, 1998).
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