Pillar 8

Pillar 8: Parents and students must be involved in the evolutionary process

There should be continuity between home and school. This applies to all aspects of education. Parents should feel that their child's classroom is their classroom, too. Parents should be provided with feedback on the existence and effectiveness of a technology program in the child’s classroom. Schools—administration and faculty—have to appreciate the value of getting parents directly or indirectly involved.

This recognition of the importance of involving parents also is exemplified by the Shiksa Project mentioned in Pillar 3 (Partners in Learning, 2006). According to the online report about the project, the people of New Tehri were not very happy with the priority the school was giving to the computer program. It seems they considered ICT education an unnecessary indulgence. The Rs 10 per month, charged by the school for lab maintenance, needed to be justified in their minds. Also, they felt that computers were a distraction from ‘normal’ studies.

To tackle this shortsighted resistance, the school came up with a free 10-day workshop for the parents on the benefits of ICT education. As the report states: “What could not have been achieved with any amount of argument or appeal was accomplished with this generous gesture. Having won the parents over, the school set about ensuring that the students truly benefited from these new tools.”

The best schools appreciate the power of parental involvement and thus actively foster close relationships between parents and the school for students of all ages. Information has been defined as "a reduction in uncertainty" (Shannon & Weaver, 1949). Effective communication can help remove much of the uncertainty that surrounds many parents' perceptions of the education their children are getting in school.

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