Parents International was invited to contribute to the biennial conference of our partner, the European School Heads Association held in Dubrovnik on 24/27 October 2023. The title of the conference and the focus was School Leaders Making a Difference. This provided us with the perfect opportunity to showcase the outcomes of the Parents Engage project, offering ways for school leaders to support their teacher to become more inclusive with special focus on the inclusion of migrants – a hot topic everywhere.
How to engage parents and students in today’s school realities was the main focus of the workshop with a very high turnout of over 100 participants.
School leaders all over Europe are facing a multitude of challenges from the growing diversity of the student population to demands about changing curricula or teacher shortages that are also a main concern for the parents and family of their students. As a result of school closures, parents have a deeper insight into the schooling of their children that resulted in massive movements, primarily by parents with lower levels of education, to opt out of school and find pseudo-homeschooling solutions – a truly frightening development. At the same time, the percentage of students who regularly attend school and fail to acquire basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills is still growing in Europe. Boys are falling behind and dropping out of school. Research clearly shows that, regardless of their level of education or socio-economic status, parents have the largest impact on students’ learning outcomes by having a main influence on their attitude towards learning and school. At the same time, freshly conducted research from various European countries show that neither parents, nor schools are content with the level of engagement parents have with schools while this topic is largely missing from teacher training programmes.
In the first half of the workshop, outcomes of recent research and the tools developed in the Parents Engage project were shared. Apart from the inclusion highlight, research was introduced on the mismatch between schools’ and parents’ expectations and perceptions as well as possible solutions for engagement in shared leadership solutions that not only provide engagement opportunities for parents, but also for students.
The second half of the workshop served as a case clinic inviting participants to share their ideas on each other’s biggest challenges in parental engagement and also child participation.
The European Parliament and the European Commission has jointly organised a large event in Brussels that was to evaluate the progress towards the envisaged European Education Area by 2035. Parents International could bring the voice of European parents to the table. The event coincided with the publication of our Democrat Framework, giving us a perfect opportunity to highlight the link between the importance of more focus on educating democrats and the necessary educator skills for that.
boosting equity and inclusion in education and training
automatic mutual recognition
The most interesting intervention was on the Portuguese approach of making democracy education truly transversal in schools that have a very wide autonomy by training teachers and providing mutual learning opportunities for them and school leaders.
Unfortunately, any reference to the work of the Council of Europe on citizenship was missing while we heard a panellist about the dangers of the online world as “digital citizenship”.
The event was to bring together representatives from EU institutions, EU countries and relevant members of the wider education community. However, the participation did not go much beyond the “Brussels bubble”, organisations based in Brussels as this event was again organised in a way that did not make it possible for many organisations to send their representatives as travel costs were not covered – a new phenomenon introduced after the end of restrictions.
The Autumn Session of the INGO Conference of the Council of Europe took place between 9-11 October 2023, coinciding with the session of the Parlamentary Assembly. It also celebrated 30 years of civil society organisations like us being part of the European efforts around human rights. As always, our Supervisory Board Member, Herminio Correa represented Parents International and he was also the co-organiser of a very topical round table discussion on gender equality. You can read his report about it below.
The Committee “NGOs as advocates for gender equality and women’s rights” organized a round table on the subject of “Gender equality is a Human Rights issue. How can we join forces to promote and protect it today?” with which the Autumn Session of the INGOS Conference began.
Gender equality and 30 years of civil society cooperation in Strasbourg 4
This round table intended to highlight the relevance of gender equality and women’s rights as a cross-cutting theme that affects all INGO Committees in the outcome of their work. The Conference of INGOs’ common objective is to make the INGO Committees cooperate with each other on cross cutting topics. For the Gender Equality-Committee, this means contributing to gender mainstreaming and to support other INGO Committees to observe the gender perspective.
Respect and full compliance with human rights will only be a reality if men and women have the same rights and the same opportunities. Therefore, the defence of gender equality must be a joint task of all and everyone.
Cécile Gréboval, Senior Gender Equality Adviser, Gender Equality Division outlined the relevance of human rights and gender equality to the work of the Council of Europe and highlighted many inequalities between men and women that remain in our days.
Then five of the seven INGO Conference committees spoke about gender aspects in their work, namely in the areas of the environment, interreligiosity, children’s rights. education and migration.
This round table, as an introspective session, was a meaningful way to exchange experiences and lessons learned from the past and to obtain ideas and suggestions for the future. Based on the information obtained and the results of this round table, a strategy will be developed on how best to implement gender equality as a cross-cutting task in the work of the INGOs Conference.
Bettina Hanne (Chair), Anita Schnetzer-Spranger (Vice Chair) and Sara Pilia were the collaborators of Herminio Correa in the organization and execution of this round table.
Parents International was invited for the second time to hold a workshop at the DIPS (Developing International Projects) training that was held in warm and sunny Prague this year in the first week of October. Our workshop was about child participation and parental engagement for a transition from projects to programmes.
In a participatory format, the aim of the workshop what to explore and design successful parental engagement and child participation journeys, especially project design that builds on the initiatives of students and their parents and/or are carried out with their active participation. We have explored project work methodologies theat acknowledge and celebrate agency of students as well asn the role of parents as primary educators.
The workshop put a special focus on inclusive and multicultural learning aspects and the necessary self-reflection of teachers for it.
Supporting the development of international projects 6
Using the Ladders of Child and Parent Participation, the group has realised that most of their methods are not participatory even if they are nice.
Parents International has long been a supporter of the Happy Schools initiative of UNESCO. On 4 October, we had the opportunity to contribute to their webinar timed for the eve of World Teacher Day. The reason is the same as for our joining the Let’s Care project: we belive that feeling safe and happy at school is a key factor in preventing early school leaving and preserving the joy of learning – a key for educating lifelong learners. What is a positive aspect of the Happy Schools initiative that it is not trying to interfere with personal relations and the role of family while keeps the right professional boundaries – unlike some aspriations of Let’s Care.
Table of Contents
The Importance of Parental Engagement in Happy Schools
Parental engagement is a key factor in creating supportive and successful educational environments. It plays an essential role in the Happy Schools initiative, a concept developed by UNESCO, and one supported by Parents International. This initiative is designed to foster joy, well-being, and safety in schools for both students and educators. By encouraging parents to actively participate in school life, Happy Schools aim to create a more holistic and harmonious atmosphere for students to thrive.
Happy Schools focus on four main pillars:
people
process
place
principles.
Together, these pillars address the different aspects of school life that contribute to the happiness of both students and teachers. The initiative emphasizes the importance of positive relationships within the school environment, including interactions between teachers, parents, students, and school administrators. The goal is to create a space where everyone feels valued, safe, and motivated.
At the heart of this approach lies the understanding that when students are happy, they are more likely to be engaged in their learning, which decreases the risk of early school dropout. Similarly, happy and supported teachers are better equipped to perform their roles effectively, leading to higher job satisfaction and a more positive school environment overall.
International Parents Alliance’s dedication to parental engagement and sudents and education professionals’ welfare aligns with UNESCO’s Happy Schools initiative
The Role of the People Pillar in Happy Schools
Among the four pillars, the people pillar is of particular significance. It focuses on the well-being, relationships, and working conditions of everyone involved in the school community. This includes teachers, students, parents, school leaders, and the wider community. In a webinar series launched by UNESCO in 2023, the people pillar was explored in depth, particularly during a session in honour of World Teachers’ Day. This session aimed to explore the systemic changes needed to build positive, supportive relationships within the school environment. In particular, it examined
Discussing systemic changes needed to improve relationships between teachers, students, parents, school leaders, staff, community members, and managers to establish and sustain positive learning environments where teachers are happy to teach and students are happy to learn.
Sharing perspectives from around the world on the importance of supporting teacher well-being by strengthening the happiness of the school environment and attractiveness of the teaching profession.
Encouraging all to join Happy Schools in partnership and commit to happiness and a whole school approach to learning as the foundation of quality education.
Parental engagement is a key component of the people pillar. Parents International, a strong advocate of the Happy Schools initiative, has developed various training programs and resources to help schools and parents work together more effectively. These programs aim to strengthen communication between families and schools, fostering mutual understanding and respect. Through these efforts, schools can create an inclusive environment where parents feel empowered to contribute to their children’s education.
In our contribution, we had the opportunity to talk about our trainings, materials and programmes that can support a better home-school partnership, primarily by the capacity building of professionals.
How Parental Engagement Impacts Student Success
Parental engagement in Happy Schools goes beyond just attending school events or parent-teacher conferences. It involves building a strong, ongoing partnership between parents and schools, where both parties actively contribute to the student’s learning experience. Studies have shown that when parents are engaged in their child’s education, students tend to perform better academically, have higher self-esteem, and are more motivated to succeed.
In the context of Happy Schools, parental engagement is seen as a key factor in creating a positive school culture. When parents, teachers, and students collaborate, it fosters a sense of community that benefits everyone involved. Students feel supported both at home and in school, which contributes to their overall well-being and academic success. Teachers, too, benefit from this engagement, as it creates a more cohesive and supportive environment in which to teach.
Parents International has been a driving force behind encouraging greater parental involvement in schools. We provide training to parents and professionals alike, helping to build strong relationships that support student achievement. In doing so, our efforts align with the goals of the Happy Schools initiative, ultimately contributing to the creation of a learning environment where everyone can thrive.
