Routledge Library Editions: Home and School – serie

Modern practice in the 1980s was to involve parents increasingly in the education of their children, and was supported by legislation. Particularly when children had special needs, parents required structured training and support to ensure they affectively sustained their vital role as educators at home. Many large-scale programmes to provide this had been developed throughout the world at the time, for example, Home Start, Portage Home Visiting Projects and Paired Reading Projects.However, not all of these had been thoroughly evaluated, and the existing literature was scattered and difficult to access. Some projects demonstrated spectacular results and high cost-effectiveness, while others proved more disappointing. Originally published in 1986, this book critically analyses over 600 international English-language research reports on the effectiveness of parent training programmes. In addition, a detailed guide to the practicalities of planning projects is provided, together with a comprehensive directory of useful resource materials.After an introductory overview, the evidence on the effects on child progress of parental involvement in school activities is reviewed, as is research on the impact of schemes of regular structured communication between home and school. Programmes designed to train parents to accelerate the development of their children at home are considered in the subsequent chapters, starting with “ordinary” children. Much of the book reviews projects targeted on children with some sort of special educational need, from children whose special needs stem from a widespread difficulty such as poverty or second language learning, systematically through to children whose needs stem from rarer and more severe issues. Each chapter has its own summary for ease of reader use, while an overall summary chapter points out “best buys” and directions for future developments.This volume will be of major interest to teachers, psychologists, social workers, community health personnel, community educationalists, researchers, many others working with parents and children, and to some parents themselves.This book is a re-issue originally published in 1986. The language used is a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.

In the 1990s, issues of child protection, child abuse and delinquency had generated public and academic concerns over the ability of adults to underwrite the physical, moral and social welfare of children. At the same time, recent educational reform had provoked debate around the shifting balance of power between those most involved in child development – parents and teachers. Originally published in 1996, Schooling, Welfare and Parental Responsibility brings these two agenda together within a coherent theoretical framework and offers an empirical analysis grounded in perspectives of both parents and teachers.The book draws on recent British, European and North American research and provides the reader with an up-to-date account of the current state of affairs between parents and teachers at the time. Within a context of recent educational and social policy reform and drawing on interview material from parents and teachers, the author examines the common understandings of the concept of parental responsibility. Debates on sex education, the ‘interventionist’ welfare state, and the state of parental anxiety are explored through the accounts provided.Schooling, Welfare and Parental Responsibility is an eminently readable synthesis of theory, policy and empirical data and today can be read by students, teachers and welfare practitioners in its historical context.

In the early 1970s few subjects in schools had grown faster than moral education, and more and more teachers were seeking guidance in a changing and developing field where a training in the ‘traditional’ subjects could not always provide sufficient help. Originally published in 1975, Dr Kay maintained that a study of the sociological factors involved could give considerable insight into the meaning and purpose of moral education, and in this book he examines the effect on the individual pupil of the home, the school and differing socio-economic class structures and ideologies.Using standard sociological analyses Dr Kay discloses some of the determinants of individual morality as they affect children in their homes and schools. He concludes that the alleged moral superiority of the middle-classes merely stresses the fact that the benefits which are currently enjoyed by this minority should become the privilege of all. The analysis of home and school leads him to the view that a democratic milieu is the environment most likely to promote moral growth. And his study of school systems concludes with the view that privileged elitism should be replaced by an ‘aristocracy of service’, with full pupil-participation in every aspect of school life. Today it can be read in its historical context.

School and educational achievement is dependent on many complex factors and is usually seen as the key outcome measure by which school effectiveness can be judged. Originally published in 2000, this book aimed to establish whether or not educational achievement can in part be ascribed to the quality and range of home–school links. It provided a timely contribution to the continuing debate at the time on the pivotal relationship between schools and the families which form their constituencies.Government initiatives such as the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies and Sure Start acknowledged the importance of parental involvement. This book enabled all those interested in education to evaluate the educational benefits of a home–school relationship between pupils, parents, teachers and schools.

With the introduction of the Literacy Hour in 1998, the case for harnessing parental involvement in promoting children’s literacy was stronger than ever. Originally published in 1999, this book offered a detailed and practical approach, based on three key concepts: keeping the child in the driving seat, continuing support from the school to the parents and daily reading at home. It is presented in an accessible manner and offers practical advice to teachers in running and evaluating a scheme. It also gives parents a chance to think about the nature of their involvement at word, sentence and text levels, introducing them to the framework of the National Literacy Strategy.Good reading skills are essential for access to the wider curriculum, yet above all, reading is fun. This book helped teachers, parents and children to work together to make reading at home more enjoyable. It was also to help ensure that children achieved the standards of literacy expected for their age by 2002. Today it can still be used to help children learn to read.

In the 1980s working with parents in the education and care of their children was more often preached than practised by professionals. However, recent government committees and legislation both in the UK and USA at the time had repeatedly stressed the importance of parental participation. This applied not only to children with special needs, but to all children, and indeed there was considerable evidence to suggest that parents wanted to be involved and that the child benefited as a result.Originally published in 1985, Working with Parents, aimed at professionals in training or newly qualified, drew together for the first time many examples of how partnership with parents can evolve and be successful. It not only gives detailed suggestions for working with parents on a one-to-one basis but also describes how to handle parent groups, organise courses, give effective talks and use video. The author draws on his wide and well-known experience to give specific instances – such as his work on language with children with learning disabilities – that illustrate general principles. The book is written in a lively, practical style and should still be of great value to teachers – in both special and mainstream education – and others such as speech therapists, psychologists and community workers.This book is a re-issue originally published in 1985. The language used is a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.

In the late 1980s positive interaction between home and school in education was receiving attention from politicians, parents and teachers. It was thought that by listening to parents, teachers might gain insight into the ways in which they could work more effectively with children and their families.Originally published in 1988, this book was of great practical value. It draws upon the authors’ work over the previous decade to explore the links between listening to the parental perspective on a child’s schooling and the development of more effective home/school practice. It describes the scene at the time, the philosophy and method for effective listening, the development of familiarity and understanding with parents, strategies for encouraging a home/school programme and the development of effective practice. Included are accounts by parents with widely differing backgrounds and experiences on their role as educators and their dealings with their children’s schools. The book concludes with a discussion of the important issues in home/school interaction and identification of the areas where further development is needed. Still relevant today, this book can be read in its historical context.

Originally published in 1997, the purpose of this collection was to raise the profile of the valuable work that was being done with minority ethnic parents and families in many different settings and circumstances. Contributors discuss issues and concerns and illustrate the range, scope and variety of provision and practice at the time. The collection will be of interest to those with a special responsibility for working with black and bilingual parents in schools and other agencies, and also to teachers and others who work with minority ethnic pupils in mainstream classrooms.

Originally published in 1974, Parent Power was a comprehensive handbook for parents on education and schooling at the time. Clearly and concisely, it outlined the rights of parents within the education system, and set out how they might be most effectively asserted to achieve results.Parent Power was designed as a source of ready answers to the day-to-day problems that faced all parents of schoolchildren in the 1970s.Has a parent any say in which school his child attends? What are ‘discovery’ methods? Should a child be taught to read before beginning school? Is any teacher permitted to inflict corporal punishment? What is ‘family grouping’?Parent Power was complied by a team of experienced teachers and educational journalists in easy-reference form, and its 140 alphabetical entries range from Day Nurseries and Playgroups to Evening Classes and Polytechnics, from Eleven-plus and C.S.E. to Examinations and Degrees, Intelligence Tests and Spelling. Where applicable, entries are supplemented with lists of useful addresses and sources of further information. Today it can be read in its historical context.This book is a re-issue originally published in 1974. The language used is a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.

For any parent or parent-to-be this book, originally published in 1972, was intended to open new doors, answering questions about themselves and their children, and be illuminating to many others professionally concerned with parents.Many real-life examples from the author’s work demonstrate how parents who are encouraged to express their feelings through discussion in an unjudging atmosphere can better ‘solve’ their problems and enjoy their children.Readers learn through the experience of these typical parents who overcame fears of expressing their often surprisingly complex feelings. They also share, indirectly, the results of greater understanding and better handling of practical problems, such as the child who cannot sleep or runs away from home, the child with learning difficulties, living with mother-in-law, teenage rebellion, drug abuse, family upheaval and social tension. Physical symptoms of personal strain, such as back and head aches, may disappear. Examples of play techniques to help children directly with their emotional problems are also given.The author believes that parenthood is a natural opportunity for personal growth and enjoyment of life. Her philosophy is one of prevention even more than cure – parents’ questions turn out to be the questions of all people, which left unheard and unanswered may lead to a multitude of social and personal ills.Conversely, greater understanding as parents can bring easier relationships at work, with friends and between husband and wife. The approach described often bridges a gap parents describe between knowing what to do, and how to do it.This book is a re-issue originally published in 1972. The language used is a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.

Originally published in 1968, this book was for every parent who had ever wondered ‘What goes on in my child’s school – whom do I ask, what do I ask, and dare I ask?’; and for every teacher who had ever thought, ‘How can I get closer to parents and enlist their aid in what I am trying to teach?’ At the time Lawrence Green was a junior-school head teacher with long experience in the ‘deprived’ areas of a large city – and had two children at school. His articles on parent-teacher cooperation in the magazine ‘Where?’ aroused very wide interest and led to reviews in the national press and appearances on the BBC and ITV. Requests for details of his two-way reports – in which parents were invited to give the school a picture of the child at home – were received from all over the world.This is a practical and deeply-felt book, a living illustration of the kind of cooperation which could make the Plowden Report a reality. It deals frankly with the difficulties of starting and maintaining links between home and school, but describes the kind of success which could be achieved. The intention was that it should be read by all who cared about education and wanted to cross the line which too often separated parent and teacher at the time. Today it can be read in its historical context.