Sample Essay On The Importance Of Including Family Participation In The Classroom

The involvement of family in the educational process is extremely important, however a great deal of parents seem to be negligent of this. It is vital for child development that parents and schools do not compete but cooperate. Working with parents should be regarded as one of the main directions of updating a child's life in the classroom. Unfortunately, due to a fast pace of modern lifestyle, there is a lack public institutions which can educate parents.
It is necessary to introduce families to a variety of modern technologies, methods and trainings. Schools can invite parents to classes as students or as teachers. These activities will undoubtedly inspire children to learn and interact more eagerly. Furthermore, the inclusion of children and adults in the joint creative activity demonstrates the benefits as well. Special methods of communication with family are worth implementing. Those might be pedagogical communication within the parents 'meetings or the opening of the educational process for parents and grand parents' meetings (Kraft & Dougherty 2013). Parents play integral part in the educational process. Without their active participation, it is impossible to speak about the full development of child as an individual. Nowadays parents are usually observers, not active participants in the educational process of the child.
Numerous scholars stress the role and activity of modern parents in the education of a child. In order to acknowledge the vitality, it is worth identifying the main challenges faced by family when it comes to the learning process. In the current socio-cultural situation of parents and children are characterized by various conflicts, isolation and mutual loneliness. To tackle these issues, the development of cooperation between children and their parents in the life of a comprehensive school is required. The interaction of parents and children in many families are characterized by a deficiency of mutual hobbies, trust, communication and emotional intimacy. Low tolerance for each other's shortcomings and increased conflict are prevalent among overprotective adults. Experimental study has shown that by taking into account individual and social characteristics, capabilities, needs of parents, children and teachers, their interaction in the school becomes successful in terms of personal and interpersonal aspects (Kraft & Dougherty 2013).
One of the areas of improvement of the interaction is the development of interaction of parents and their children in joint school affairs (Driscoll & Nagel 2010). This suggests the involvement of parents in collective life planning of a class and a school. The inclusion of parents in the life of the educational community is likely to promote mutual understanding of parents and children. Moreover, such practice leads to the formation of common attitudes, beliefs and values. The subsequent development of the interaction of parents and children takes place in the club associations, that is pedagogically organized, voluntary association of pupils, parents and teachers, united on the basis of mutual acceptance and understanding. The participants share the desire to solve the problems of family and school education. The club is not a one-way transfer of experience, knowledge and value judgments. In the course of business games and workshops, creative projects of the club members inspire co-operative and meaningful experience of interaction, which is ultimately transferred to family. Develop interaction of parents and children in the school of life requires an ethical and practical readiness of parents and teachers. This willingness is formed directly in the process of interaction, the leading role of which belongs to professional educators.
The family is the source of the absolute majority of personality traits, strengths and future of its vices. The results of numerous studies point to the deepening of long-term trends associated with the negative impact on the situation of the majority of families’ socio-economic, political, social and cultural conditions of the transition period.
Family lays the initial values and shape child’s character. When it comes to school age, parental involvement can be expressed in different ways, both educational and recreational. Reading to a child have an apparent learning purpose, whereas painting together ignite cooperation and creativity. In order to inspire social interaction, organizing a birthday party or playing games with groups of children is quite effective. There is overwhelming evidence that family participation in a classroom is efficient. Of paramount importance is the fact that transparency of educational patterns lead to mutual understanding and trust.
The role of family in the education cannot be overestimated. It is at school, where children acquire their first experience of social life, expanding their horizons. Therefore, family should be an indispensable part of educational process.

Annotated Bibliography

Kraft, Matthew A. & Dougherty, Shaun M. “The effect of teacher-family communication on student engagement: evidence from a randomized field experiment.” Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness 6.3 (2013): 199-222. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
The study presented by Kraft and Dougherty outlines active methods and techniques of involving parents in the educational process. The conclusive evidence demonstrates that student engagement in learning enhances considerably when family expresses eagerness to be a part of classroom.
Fan, Weihua & Williams, Cathy M. “The effects of parental involvement on students’ academic self-efficacy, engagement and intrinsic motivation.” Educational Psychology 30.1 (Jan. 2010): 53-74. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
The article examines the vitality of parental participation in terms of academic outcomes and motivation. Social interaction with peers as well as increased interest in learning are closely related to the family involvement in the classroom. The study argues that motivational outcomes, particularly self-efficacy towards English and math, stems from the engagement of relatives.
Driscoll, Amy & Nagel, Nancy G. “Importance of early childhood education: family involvement.” (8 Dec. 2010). Web. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/research-family-involvement-early/
The article endeavours to scrutinize the onset of educational process. It is argued that activities of parents and teachers in the interests of a child can be successful only if they become allies. Teachers with the help of parents get to know a child, see him in different situations and, thus, help family to understand the individual characteristics of children.
Loop, Erica. “Does parental involvement vary at grade level?” Web. Retrieved from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/parental-involvement-vary-grade-level-5001.html