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PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLING
ED 5184

My aims for this course are that:
Together we will develop our abilities to think critically about the theory and practise of parental involvement in schooling, and,
Together we will develop our professional abilities to work with parents

In this course we will:

examine the official texts of parental involvement in schooling - legislation, policies, procedures and other official documents such as pamphlets for parents and report cards;

consider the relationship of official text to actual practise;

subject official texts and actual practise to critical evaluation in the strong sense: asking questions about power relations, the politics of exclusion, and the privilege of race, gender, class and culture;

theorise the relationship between parental and professional knowledge;

explore practises which respect diversity and honour parents', students' and teachers' lifeworlds.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS (may vary somewhat from year to year).

Class participation
In this course we will participate in critical, cultural conversations requiring imagination, partial and provisional theorising, tolerance for ambiguity and respect for polyphony.

Reading response
This assignment is intended to help us access and reflect on new knowledge, integrate it with what we already know and construct new meanings. Each week assigned readings will be summarised, (250-300 words) critiqued (600-800 words) and shared in class. Written responses will be collected together in a folder, handed in for feedback weekly - to peers and prof alternately. In total, 6 critical responses are required. All written feedback, received and given will also be included in the folder.

A visual work, performance, presentation or publishable article for an audience beyond the this class which reflects current research, theory and practice, identifies issues and provokes critical conversations about a particular aspect of parental involvement in schooling such as: assessment and reporting of student progress; school governance; parent education about school matters (e.g. changes in legislation, organisation, curriculum, testing programs, research); teacher education about domestic/local/ethnic/class/gender matters; parental involvement in the classroom; parental involvement in school policy making; school climate; parental access to schools; parent volunteers; home visits; homework, etc..
This assignment will be done in groups (of 3).