Demand for Parental Engagement in Kids’ Learning

Education Event Shows Demand for Parental Engagement in Kids’ Learning

Over 180 educators and community advocates came together last week under the Learning Auckland banner, to discuss practical ways to increase parent engagement with children’s learning.

Susan Warren, leader of the Learning Auckland movement and Chief Executive of COMET Auckland says: “We know from evidence that parents and whānau can have
a huge impact on their children’s learning, so the Parent Engagement event brought together teachers, senior leaders and board members from several education sectors, to examine effective engagement initiatives that have been shown to make a difference.

The Learning Auckland event was co-run by COMET Auckland, NZEI and PPTA, and created an opportunity for guests to share knowledge and ideas in a collaborative forum. Professor Stuart McNaughton from the University of Auckland delivered the keynote speech: Enhancing conversations among whanau, teachers and learners about learning.

Susan Warren says: “The aim of the event was to support schools and ECEs in their efforts to build strong learning-focused partnerships with parents and whānau. Going by the level of interest in the forum, this is a topic that our schools and early learning services are keenly interested in.”

Warren says reporting presents a valuable opportunity to build relationships between educators and parents, because the focus is on children’s learning – something both parties are keenly interested in.

“The more we can enhance the crucial relationship and engagement between whānau, teachers and learners through reporting, the better the outcome for everyone.

“There are simple steps people can take to support that important factor, whether you are an employer giving your staff time off to attend parent-teacher interviews, or you are a school increasing your communication with the students’ families and the community.

There really is something that everyone can do to make a positive impact and we are committed to sharing ideas and tactics that drive engagement.

Warren says participants shared ideas, practices and models for improving engagement and relations between ECEs/schools, teachers and whānau. “The feedback we’ve been receiving from guests since the forum has been hugely positive, with many identifying new ideas and ways of working that they heard about at the forum and now want to implement in their own setting.”

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