How parental involvement at school works

I was pregnant with our first child and still remember exactly how I told my parents this wonderful news. Naturally, the future grandparents were delighted about the impending event. My mum then casually said the sentence that made me doubt: «My child, you are about to receive the most beautiful gift that life has in store for you. With the birth of your child, you are connected to him and have a task that will challenge you for the rest of your life.»

I have long since realised how right my mother was.

Being a parent is a wonderful and challenging task in life. A child takes the biggest developmental steps in the first few years of life. Then it enters the school system. Now it's time to let go and still fulfil your parental duties. It is understandable that all parents want the best possible support for their child.

Parental involvement is only successful if schools and parents meet on an equal footing.

Most parents are happy to support the school and teachers in this task. In fact, research has shown that it is of great importance for the healthy development of a child that parents and teachers maintain regular contact and support each other in the event of difficulties or problems. However, this can only succeed if teachers and parents meet as equals, if they accept each other in their different roles as experts and are willing to learn from each other.

Personal encounters remain important

Thirty years ago, as a teacher, I created numerous opportunities for the mums and dads of my pupils to get in touch with each other and with me. Parents received weekly information on learning objectives and planned class activities. There were regular one-to-one meetings, parents' evenings and information events in the morning. Informal activities were also important to me, such as a monthly voluntary parents' get-together in the village restaurant, opportunities to get involved in class events or a visiting day at the class camp.

Today, it has become more difficult to get parents involved in activities, as many are very busy with work and family life. There are also new ways to get in touch with parents: regular meetings via video calls, parent chats and class websites. Digitalisation will make exchanges even easier in the future, but should by no means replace valuable personal encounters.

Encourage parents' positive attitude towards the school

I have now been a headteacher for almost 25 years. My many tasks include developing and promoting co-operation with parents:

• Parents are always welcome at the school. I attach great importance to treating each other with respect. The positive attitude of the parents towards the school and the school towards the parents is a basic prerequisite for successful cooperation.
• I regularly discuss the topic of parental involvement at class level with the teachers and agree binding rules. We take into account the different living conditions of parents. We strive for a shared culture of parental cooperation.
• I am responsible for ensuring that parents receive relevant school information in a timely manner, but are not inundated with messages.
• Parents know who they can contact if they have any questions. They know how to contact teachers, school management and the school office.
• There are opportunities for parental involvement at the school.

This list is not exhaustive. Probably the most important task for teachers and school management is to build mutual trust. A solid foundation of trust is the most important prerequisite for successful co-operation. On the one hand, parents should have the certainty that the school is a safe place for their child. On the other hand, they must be able to trust that the teachers are experts in learning and are committed to supporting their child every day.

Parental involvement, put into practice

In two schools, I was able to work with interested parents to develop a concept for a parents' council. This process was enormously enriching for everyone involved.

My experience in implementing sustainable parental involvement is as follows:

1. A joint, concrete task promotes the relationship between school and parents.
   Parents were finally able to realise their need to support the school in a concrete way. At the same time, they got to know their child's «place of work» better. The school appreciated the fact that it was able to pick up on the parents' interest and receive support with certain tasks and activities.
2. Conversations and discussions between teachers and parents are enriching for both sides.
   The concept development began with the parents thinking about their expectations of a good school and discussing the results together. The teachers also defined their most important indicators for a good school. The results from both groups were compared, discussed and commonalities identified.
3. Parents learn about the limits and possibilities of cooperation with the school.
   In a next step, the group of concept developers recorded how parents' councils can support and help.
4. Ideas for good co-operation between school and home are developed during the concept work.
   In one school, the parents' council set itself the task of building a missing playground for the middle school children with the help of all interested parents and ensuring that it was financed. A task that extended over several years and repeatedly led to wonderful activities between pupils, teachers and parents.

The parents' network of the multicultural neighbourhood school took on the task of cleaning clothes that had been left lying around, mending them where necessary, sorting them by size and depositing them in labelled boxes in the basement of the school building. A wonderful support for the classes that practise outdoor learning: Time and again, children came to school with unsuitable outfits for outdoor lessons. The teachers can now easily fetch a few more suitable items of clothing for these children from the cellar.

Conclusion: The school needs parents! Their interest, their willingness to cooperate and their positive attitude towards school favour the learning climate for the children. The school must succeed in building a trustworthy relationship with parents so that our pupils have the best possible conditions for learning.