oa Een schoolleergemeenschap met leerkrachten en ouders

A school learning community formed by teachers and parents: Towards improving educational partnership

A partnership in which parents and teachers attune their support can be beneficial for children’s development. However, in practice parents and teachers encounter difficulties in establishing such partnerships. A school learning community (SLC) in which parents and teachers cooperate and reflect on their views and practices could be beneficial for the improvement of such a partnership. In the current study parents and teachers were supervised during their cooperation in a SLC towards an improved educational partnership. This research examined how equality and diversity were expressed in the SLC and to what extent participants were able to reflect on their opinions and practices. Also, it was investigated whether participants were able to convert the insights gained through reflection into practical partnership returns for the school. Four schools formed SLC’s consisting of kindergarten teachers and parents, which met five times. Transcripts of the meetings were analysed using a Thematic Coding Approach. Results show that equality and diversity were expressed in several ways. Equality in communication and attention to individual experiences and differences became important topics in the improvement of educational partnership. Depending on the school context, parents and teachers were able to reflect more or less thorough on their opinions and practices, especially regarding ‘communication’. At each school new insights into equality and diversity were translated into applications in the school. Differences between schools are discussed. Further research should determine whether these events lead to an improved long-term educational partnership that is anchored in school policy.