Parental Involvement in Children’s School Activities and School Work

Tema ovoga diplomskoga rada je uključenost roditelja u školske aktivnosti djece i rad škole, a uz uključenost roditelja u školske aktivnosti djece i rad škola usko su vezani i pojmovi suradnje i partnerstva škole i obitelji. Partnerski odnosi škole i obitelji posljednjih su nekoliko desetljeća u fokusu pedagoških studija, u skladu sa saznanjima da kvaliteta tih odnosa uvelike utječe na djetetov akademski uspjeh. U radu se stoga pojašnjavaju osnovni pojmovi te se pokušava ispitati današnja situacija vezana uz uključenost roditelja u školske aktivnosti i rad škola. U prvome dijelu rada daje se teorijski presijek dosad napisanih radova na temu suradnje i partnerstva te roditeljske uključenosti u rad škole i u školske aktivnosti djece. U drugome dijelu rada provodi se analiza i interpretacija podataka koji su se dobili u intervjuima s dvanaest sugovornica, majki učenika i učenica viših razreda osnovnih škola na širem području grada Splita. Pritom se ispituju izravne i neizravne strategije roditeljske uključenosti u školske aktivnosti djeteta, zatim oblici suradnje škole i roditelja te se propituje roditeljski stav o njihovu angažmanu oko školskih aktivnosti djeteta te roditeljski stav o partnerstvu sa školom. U radu se ističe da je za uspješan partnerski odnos između roditelja i škole nužan pomak s tradicionalne na partnersku orijentaciju te nastojanje da se sva dosadašnja teoretska saznanja primijene u praksi.This thesis analyses the involvement of parents in their children's school activities and school work. Parent involvement is closely linked to family-school partnership. Partnerships between schools and families have been a focus of pedagogical studies in the past decades, resulting in the realization that the quality of the relationship between schools and parents greatly influences a child's academic success. This thesis explains the basic concepts of parent-school partnerships and examines the current situation of parent involvement in schoolwork and school activities. The first part presents a theoretical overview of existing research on cooperation and partnership in parent involvement in schoolwork and school activities. The second part provides an analysis and interpretation of data collected in interviews with twelve respondents: mothers of pupils and higher-year pupils of secondary schools in Split. Direct and indirect strategies of parent involvement in their child's school activities are investigated, as well as forms of cooperation between schools and parents. The parents' attitudes towards their engagement in their child's school activities and the partnership with schools is elicited. The thesis highlights that for a successful cooperation between parents and schools a move from a traditional unilateral approach to a partnership approach is necessary. The application of current theoretical knowledge on the subject to practice is recommended