Parental Involvement in Childhood Education

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Importance of Parental Involvement

   • Garry Hornby

   Pages 1-9

3. Barriers to Parental Involvement

   • Garry Hornby

   Pages 11-26

4. Model for Parental Involvement in Education

   • Garry Hornby

   Pages 27-42

5. Parent Involvement in Elementary Schools

   • Garry Hornby

   Pages 43-59

6. Parental Involvement in Middle and Secondary Schools

   • Garry Hornby

   Pages 61-77

7. Guidelines for Implementing Parent Involvement Activities

   • Garry Hornby

   Pages 79-98

8. Skills for Effective Parent Involvement

   • Garry Hornby

   Pages 99-120

9. Role of Professionals in Improving Parental Involvement

   • Garry Hornby

   Pages 121-126

10. Back Matter

    Pages 127-137

    PDF

Parental participation has long been recognized as a positive factor in children’s education. Research consistently shows that parents’ contributions to their children’s education lead to improvements in their academic and behavioral outcomes, from elementary through middle and secondary school. Recognizing the critical role of school psychologists in this equation, Parental Involvement in Childhood Education clearly sets out an evidence-based rationale and blueprint for building parental involvement and faculty awareness.

The author’s starting point is the gap between the ideals found in the literature and the reality of parental involvement in schools. An ecological analysis identifies professional, institutional, and societal factors that keep schools and parents distant. Methods for evaluating parental involvement are detailed, as is a model for developing and maintaining strong parental relationships at the instructor, school, and education system level, with an emphasis on flexible communication and greater understanding of  parents’ needs. This empirically sound coverage offers readers:

• A detailed understanding of obstacles to parental involvement.
• An evidence-based model for parental participation.
• A three-nation study of parental involvement practices in schools.
• Guidelines for implementing parental involvement activities and initiatives.
• A review of effective communication strategies with parents.
• Analysis of key interpersonal skills for effective work with parents.

Parental Involvement in Childhood Education is essential reading for practitioners and researchers in school psychology and counseling, social work, and educational psychology, whether they work directly with schools or in providing training for teachers and other professionals who work with children and their parents.

• Academic achievement
• Childhood Education
• Children’s Plan, The
• Collaboration
• Educational competencies
• Evidence-based practices
• Home visits
• Home-school
• No Child Left Behind
• PI
• Parent-child
• Parent-teacher
• Parental involvement
• Parents
• Partnership
• Positive youth development
• Schooling Strategy, The
• Social Behavior

From the reviews:

“This book is a concise yet comprehensive guide in building partnerships between parents and teachers, increasing parental involvement in their children’s education. … I found this book to be very helpful in addressing the factors in building effective partnerships between families and schools. … Individuals working in the school system would benefit from reading this book as it presents many ideas that could be easily implemented in their practice and potentially reap great results.” (Sandra E. James, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Vol. 21, 2012)

• College of Education, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

  Garry Hornby

Garry Hornby (BSc, BA, MA, Dip.Ed.Psych. Ph.D, CPsychol., FBPsS) is a professor of educational psychology in the College of Education at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He is a chartered educational and counselling psychologist, and fellow of the British Psychological Society.

Professor Hornby was born in England and completed a degree in physics at the University of Leeds. His first job was as a counselor in a residential school for emotionally disturbed children in the USA. He then worked as a secondary school teacher in England and New Zealand. From there he went on teach a special class for children with moderate learning disabilities and subsequently trained and worked as an educational psychologist in Auckland.  He worked as a teacher educator at the Auckland College of Education before returning to England to work as a lecturer and researcher at the Universities of Manchester and Hull for fifteen years. He lectured for two years at the University of the West Indies in Barbados before moving to Christchurch, New Zealand, where he has been for eight years.  He is married to a Barbadian and has two secondary school age sons.

His teaching and research is in the areas of educational psychology, special education, counselling, teacher education and parental involvement in education. His previous publications include: Counselling in Child Disability (Chapman and Hall, 1994); Improving Parental Involvement (Cassell, 2000); Mental Health Handbook for Schools (Routledge. 2002); Counselling Pupils in Schools: Skills and Strategies for Teachers (Routledge, 2003); Meeting Special Needs in Mainstream Schools (2^nd ed.) (David Fulton, 2000).

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