The research evidence in Australia and around the world of the importance and benefits to young people’s learning and positive personal development – and of promoting social inclusion – is consistent, compelling and incontrovertible. This began with the work of Joyce Epstein and her team at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore in the 1970′s which still continues; twenty years of work by the SEDL group in the USA, and the Harvard University Family Project which has been running over the same period and is ongoing. Parallel research continues through two international parent-focused organisations of which ACSSO is an active member.

And in Australia, ACSSO and the Australian Parents Council have led and conducted action research since 2002, which directly contributed to the development of the National Framework. This includes pilot work with 61 schools chosen by the parent organisations and funded by the Australian Government in 2005-2006 and still continuing; and our work with some 200 schools from 2003 to 2006 with the “Families Matter” initiative which the parent organisations developed, piloted and validated as an internationally recognised “best practice” approach for building sustainable partnerships – facilitated by parents.

Sadly, despite excellent outcomes, at end of the three-year funding of “Families Matter”, government funding was not renewed beyond 2006 – though there are still some schools running the program internally because it works, and others continue contact us wanting to take it up or build on their earlier positive outcomes…

One barrier to sustainable change has been the endless start-stop approach to funding such school based initiatives, which make schools and parents cynical and disillusioned. The other is the gap between the public rhetoric and practical action in terms of recognising and engaging parents as partners with the school in the learning processes.

In the Adelaide Declaration of 1999 all Ministers recognised parents as the first and continuing educators of their children in partnership with schools through the formal years of schooling. In the recent (December 2009) Melbourne Declaration on the Schooling of Young Australians the core elements are all about the importance of engaging parents and building partnerships which contribute to student engagement and achievement: (http://www.mceetya.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf)

While the rhetoric is consistently that parents are the most important and valued stakeholder, we continually struggle to have that reflected in practice; and processes of real consultation are more honoured in the breach than the observance…

And so it is so far in the development of My School: the whole purpose of which we are told is to meet the critical information needs of parents and families. Here above all, you would reasonably assume, is an initiative which will be “for the parents, by the parents and with the parents”. But so far could be rather seen as being “done to the parents…”

n this point, you might find it interesting to read Peter Garrigan’s paper of 8 April 2010: “The great as yet unrealised potential of My School” (http://www.acsso.org.au/garrigan100408.pdf)

Achieving real partnership is a long journey and uphill all the way in reality as opposed to so much fuzzy rhetoric. But a journey we have long been walking, and are totally committed to completing.

Rupert Macgregor

Puzzled though by your oblique reference to sources you feel have not been appropriately acknowledged. For the sake of brevity and space Peter referred broadly, generally and inclusively to the consistent findings of a range of reference and research materials which are published and accessible in other areas of the ACSSO website.

If you advise any aspects which you consider should be specifically referenced, I shall be most happy to add those references appropriately.

Best wishes

I really do wonder why there isn’t a concerted national push by parent bodies to bring these initiatives to the top of their agendas. Given that parents are seeking information on schools and some sort of accountability, it seems that organisations such as yourselves should be pushing parent engagement strategies.

The MySchool debacle illustrated that there are strong views on what information should be in the public arena. I think it is mainly due to parents being left out of the process of educating their children. I read a great quote the other day: “The purpose of a school is to help a family educate a child.” If this is true, then why aren’t families seen as a major stakeholder?