Parent/school interface: current communication practices and their implication for Somali parents

Based on data from a four-year longitudinal study, this article examines the methods of communication employed by New Zealand schools to transmit information to Somali refugee parents. It considers the extent to which existing information and communication methods enhance school-family collaboration with the Somali community. The findings indicate the mechanisms currently employed by schools to communicate information and engage parents are far from effective in building constructive partnerships between parents and schools. It is suggested that the Ministry of Education develop policies requiring and equipping schools to put more emphasis on school-family collaboration and to establish a mechanism for measuring the effectiveness of such collaboration