Standard 6; Evidence 1

Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues,

parents/carers and the community EDAC314: Positive
Behaviour Approaches
This assignment consisted of me responding to the statement below. When completing this paper
I drew on a lot of literature talking about teach-parent relationships.
The Power of the classroom teacher has been significantly eroded in recent
years mainly to the excessive involvement of parents.

Much modern research in the field of education has been on the involvement of parents in the
classroom. Most literature focuses on strategies to get parents involved in the school community
and what to do with them when theyre in. There is also an emphasis on forming partnerships
(Barbour, C., Barbour, N. & Scully, 2011; Stonehouse, 2012; Australian Government, 2008) and the
obstacles that get in the way of these partnerships. Stonehouse (2008) suggests that partnerships
are different to that of involvement. Partnerships mean a share of power between educators and
parents, whereas parental involvement is controlled mostly by educators. For there to be positive
partnerships, educators need to be confident, clear and open to input from parents (Stonehouse,
2008, pg. 28). The importance of establishing relationships with families is reasoned by many, saying
that parents are the first (and best) educators of their children (Australian Government, 2008;
Porter, 2008, pg. 6). There is research indicates that yes, parental involvement is excessive, which
results in a loss of power of the classroom teacher, however many authors in this field highlight that
there is not enough engagement with families, which gives the classroom teacher ultimate power.
A parent driven approach is one of the ways that both teachers and parents can have positive
influence on a childs education, as it involves teachers recognizing that parents are their employers
(Porter, 2009, pg. 24). This way, parents can focus on giving advice about their child and what works
for their family (Porter, 2009, pg. 25) and teachers can focus on educating their students. This way,
parents dont feel like the teacher holds all the power.
For good relationships to occur there needs to be good communication. Teachers need to be open
to welcoming parents into the classroom to ensure that positive relationships are formed (Smith &
Cashen, 2008). I also believe that the stereotypical pushy parent is completely dependent on the
school or community that you live in. The emphasis in current literature on how to get parents
Comment [N1]: The main idea behind
working collaboratively with parents is for
teachers to be open to positive
partnerships. It is my job as the teacher to
open up communication lines in order to
develop these partnerships.
One strategy for engaging with parents is
for educators to be confident, clear and
open to input
Comment [N2]: The parent driven
approach is one strategy for working
effectively with parents, as both the parent
and teacher recognise their roles in
childrens education.
Standard 6; Evidence 1

involved in the classroom shows that there is a need for more parents to be more involved. From
researching this topic, it is clear that a partnership is needed between parents and teachers and that
the best way to do this is to share power in the fields that each is an expert in. That is, parents need
to respect the way teachers educate their children and the way they choose to manage behaviour in
their classroom. In turn, teachers need to respect parents knowledge of their children and the
important role that they play in their childrens education. Comment [N3]: If parents and teachers
understand and respect each others roles,
then they can work effectively, sensitively
and confidentially with parents and carers.