Managing family-school partnerships in Gauteng secondary township schools

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate how township secondary schools manage the family-school partnership for purposes of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in township schools. A literature search on related subjects was followed by an empirical study to address the study aim. A qualitative research approach, adopting a case study design, was used to investigate the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders in this key partnership (principals, teachers, and parents) and to examine the strategies the schools employed to manage it, the challenges they encountered in the process and the solutions they employed. Two principals, two deputy principals, seven parents and ten teachers from two township secondary schools in the Tshwane West District (Gauteng Department of Education (GDE)) took part in the research process. The study findings indicate that, despite the disadvantaged circumstances of township schools, it was possible to effectively manage successful family-school partnerships in these schools, provided that all major stakeholders (principals, teachers, and parents) were committed to the process. The study furthermore shows that an effective family-school partnership in township secondary schools depended largely on the ability of the school management team to create and facilitate initiatives that promote effective family-school partnerships. It was, however, also evident from the study findings that even the commitment of all stakeholders to the family-school partnership could not always overcome the challenges posed to an effective partnership. Pro-active engagement by the stakeholders was encouraged to overcome the problems that challenged the family-school partnership. Since lack of cooperation from parents appeared to be main cause of these challenges, it was imperative for the schools to find more creative ways of attracting parents to the school environment. Schools need to collaborate with those parents who are already actively involved and brainstorm with them on strategies for reaching non-involved parents and drawing them into the partnership too. Schools should also consider organising platforms to educate parents on rules of engagement with the school over their children. The findings of my study further revealed a lack of formal policy on the partnership between school and family. Education policymakers therefore need to consider the formulation of a clear policy on the family-school partnership that will serve as a toolkit for schools in their engagement with families about the education of their children. Moreover, since I found that most parents were unable to assist their children with schoolwork at home, due to the ambiguity of the curriculum. Policymakers should consider introducing a curriculum handbook for parents on each subject and design it in such a simplified format that any average parent can relate with the content.