Family-school partnerships: towards sustainable pedagogical practice

Abstract

The role of family-school partnerships in facilitating children's educational engagement and achievement is now widely recognised. However, the theoretical foundations of family-school partnerships remain under-developed and research in many aspects of this field is incomplete. The need for the development of a rigorously informed and theorised foundation to inform practice presents a challenge for educational research, and for the fields of teacher education and professional learning, in addressing the lack of instruction around effective involvement of families in partnerships with schools. This paper argues that when critically framed, a pedagogical conceptualisation of family-school partnerships provides a useful way forward in re-theorising this field of practice.

Keywords:

• family-school partnerships
• parent involvement
• teacher education