Parent Participation in Schools: Evaluating an Innovative Organisational Model

By Paul J Hansen and Judith A Mulholland.

Published by The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management

Format	Price
Article: Print	$US10.00
Article: Electronic	$US5.00

This paper reports the perceptions of parents, teachers and school administrators about the introduction and three-year implementation of an innovative model of parent participation in schools. When Nova Catholic Elementary School opened, the founding principal decided to integrate a new, more encompassing model of parent participation, the Parent Community Council (PCC), into the life of the new school. The model, not intending to replace the school Board’s policy-making responsibilities, was to be more than a traditional Parents and Friends Association (P&F) in that its members were invited to embrace and engage with all areas of school life such as the school’s Mission, the buildings and grounds, community-building, financial matters, the curriculum and the school’s administration and general organisation. These aspects of school life were intended to extend and complement the traditional fund-raising efforts of parents in schools. The researchers, through a series of focus group interviews with parents, teachers and school administrators and through administering a survey questionnaire to the entire parent body of the school, have in this paper brought together a range of perceptions of the stakeholders about the implementation of the PCC model, identifying its strengths and limitations.

Keywords:	Parent Participation in Schools, Roles of Parents in Education, Innovation in School Governance, Structures

International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, Volume 9, Issue 6, pp.113-126. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 1.177MB).

Dr. Paul J Hansen

Senior Lecturer in Education, School of Education Queensland, ACU National, VIRGINIA, Queensland, Australia

Dr. Paul Hansen is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the McAuley at Banyo Campus of Australian Catholic University in Brisbane. His research interests embrace curriculum design and evaluation, male teachers in schools, parent participation in schools, single-gender classroom settings, Community Engagement, Internships and Catholic primary school principalship. He is Editor of the Journal of Catholic School Studies, an initiative of the ACU National Faculty of Education.

Judith A Mulholland

Head of School of Education, School of Education, ACU National, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Assoc Prof. Judith Mulholland is Head of the School of Education at McAuley Campus of Australian Catholic University. She has published in the area of Science education and has extensive experience as a lecturer in Education at ACU. Her research interests include gender and Education, parent participation in schools, beginning teachers and teacher knowledge.

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