Home-school partnerships

HomeSchool resourcesHome-school partnerships
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Thought leadership
Early childhood

Home-school partnerships

HomeSchool resourcesHome-school partnerships

Topic summary

The relationships between teachers, students and their families have the potential to have a positive impact on students’ wellbeing and academic success.

Family involvement in schools has traditionally been conceptualised to include a range of activities that engage families and whānau in their child’s schooling, such as attending parent-teacher conferences and educational workshops, volunteering for field trips, or guiding home-learning activities. Many involvement activities are primarily focused on whānau support for the school, or they may put families in a passive role as recipients of knowledge. Home-school partnerships, on the other hand, are mutually determined, balancing the traditional power dynamic between teachers and whānau. They have benefits for all partners – students, whānau, and teachers. While increased family involvement is a consequence of effective partnerships, effective partnerships do not automatically arise from involvement activities. Teachers can influence partnerships by:

  • recognising and celebrating each child’s individuality
  • welcoming all whānau
  • helping whānau to encourage activities that build students’ ability to learn effectively.

Both family involvement and home-school partnerships have been correlated with a range of benefits for students, teachers, and whānau. Indeed, a comprehensive meta-analysis comparing a wide range of educational interventions found that parent involvement was more positively correlated with student academic achievement than most other interventions. Home-school partnerships include all the benefits of family involvement and additionally have a positive impact on students’ motivation, engagement, behaviour, and social outcomes.

While research has found correlation between family involvement in school activities and improved outcomes for students, it is unable to establish a clear causative relationship. This uncertainty arises primarily because school and home contexts are complex, and a myriad of factors impact on student achievement.

A home-school partnership involves genuine collaboration and coordination between whānau and schools on key issues relevant to both partners’ goals. It involves two-way systems of support that cross home and school settings. Examples include:

  • teachers finding opportunities for students and families to share knowledge and skills gained through home and family experiences
  • teachers understanding students’ home experiences in order to build relationships and develop meaningful and relevant learning activities
  • schools providing resources such as books that particular groups of families have identified as important
  • schools providing information and support to enable parents to engage with their children’s learning.

  • How do you conceptualise the role of parents and whānau in learning and school?
  • How do you develop relationships with parents and whānau?
  • How does your school support the development of whānau partnerships?
  • How do you involve whānau in the learning process?

Research reviews

From family involvement to partnership

A summary on the research behind family involvement and home-school partnership.

What school leadership can do to support home-school partnerships

What leaders can do to positively impact the relationship between school and students' parents and whanau.

What teachers can do to support home-school partnerships

An overview of the research on the role of teachers in creating effective home-school partnerships.

What families and whānau can do to support home-school partnerships

The key contributions that families make to home-school partnerships.

Partnerships with families from diverse cultural backgrounds

Tips and suggestions for improving partnership with culturally diverse families.

Webinars

Free webinar: Māori achieving success as Māori part 2

Janelle Riki-Waaka returns to help educators to positively challenge their existing beliefs and perceptions about te ao Māori, and to build deeper understanding of the best ways to work alongside Māori and enact our responsibilities to te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Free webinar: Māori achieving success as Māori

Janelle Riki-Waaka explores what Māori achieving success as Māori means from a Māori worldview, and how teachers and schools can consider how well their environments and practices support ākonga Māori to succeed and thrive.

Teachers supporting children, whānau, and communities post-disaster

Professor Carol Mutch (University of Auckland) shares her research from over 12 years of supporting schools through different disasters and crises both in Aotearoa and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Learning from lockdown – the voices of parents of Māori and Pasifika students

Authors of the report School-led learning at home: The voices of parents of Māori and Pasifika students, discuss the value of parent voice and some of the key findings of their recent research.

Infographics

Home-school partnerships infographic

What are home-school partnerships and how can they be built?

Snapshots

Partnership with whānau Māori and mana whenua

Key insights from our second webinar with Janelle Riki-Waaka.

Honouring Te Tiriti and promoting culturally empowering practices in schools

Key insights from the webinar with Janelle Riki-Waaka on supporting ākonga Māori to achieve success as Māori in schools.

The vital role of schools and teachers in helping communities respond to disasters

The key insights from our webinar with Carol Mutch on schools' responses to disasters and traumatic events.

Lessons from lockdown: Engaging in true partnership with Māori and Pasifika families

The key ideas from our webinar discussing the recent report 'School-led learning at home: The voices of parents of Māori and Pasifika students'.
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