Conference 2000 - Scottish Parent Councils Association

Conference

2008 Safe Internet Use

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Highlights of previous SSBA conferences :-

2007 Developing a Parent Council and Encouraging Parental Involvement

2006 The Way Forward for Parental Involvement

2005 Parents in Partnership

2003 Partnerships and responsibilities

2002 SSBA is fit for the future

2001 Roadshow

2000 International
and published book
available here online

Conference 2000

Encouraging Partnership in Education
AROUND THE WORLD -
PARENTS AS PARTNERS WITH
PROFESSIONALS AND POLITICIANS

This book is being published in order to bring to the attention of as many people as possible the process of parental representation and involvement in day school education. It is deliberately appearing at the same time as the International Conference :-

"Encouraging Partnership in Education Around the World -
Parents as Partners with Professionals and Politicians"

Contributors to the book were asked to reflect on the key themes of the conference.

1.	Recent and current legislation related to the legal role and representation of parents in decision making which affects the operation of a school.
2.	Membership and powers accorded to School Boards, School Councils, Boards of Governors and similar representative groups.
3.	Relations between central and local government.
4.	The process of selecting or electing parental representatives.
5.	The nature and provision of training made available to parental representatives.
6.	Existing and emerging partnership between parents and the teaching profession.
7.	Perspectives on the future role of partnerships and the possible extension of existing powers.

The International Conference is being organised by the Scottish School Board Association in May 2000. This Association was created in 1991 as the result of the initiative of Mouswald Primary School Board in Dumfries and Galloway and now represents approximately 70% of the School Boards throughout Scotland.

In 1997 a small comparative study on the operation of Scottish School Boards and Spanish School Councils was sponsored by the British Council, undertaken by staff at Strathclyde University and published by the Scottish School Board Association. Whilst this study identified a number of obvious differences between the systems in the two countries, it was easy to highlight the common denominator of the extent to which parental representatives were being involved in some aspects of school decision making and the underpinning of this process by the necessary legislation.

Various studies, such as "Managing Schools - The European Experience" have gathered together the experiences different people have had of managing schools in a variety of European Countries. More local management of schools and the greater involvement of parental representatives in decision making was a notable feature of the educational systems in Denmark, England and Wales, Germany, Scotland and Sweden.

In some former communist countries, currently in the transitional stage to a market economy, the regulatory role of the central state power is being replaced by various combinations of decision making drawn from; Parliament, Local Government, Boards of Trustees, School Directors and Faculty Councils.

Clear evidence exists from Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand and the United States that a participatory climate is developing which aims to foster an increased and more formalised role for parents, or their representatives, in school decision making.

This wide spread adoption of the involvement of parents in decisions which affect the day to day education of their children inevitably raises a number of important questions :-

a)	What is an appropriate constitution for a School Board, School Council or any other kind of governing body?
b)	How can a small number of parents on a decision making body represent the views of all parents of pupils attending a school?
c)	What is the nature and extent of preparation and training which should be made available to members of decision making bodies?
d)	What should be the relationship between the chairperson of the decision making body and the head of the school?
e)	To what degree is real partnership, compared to communication and consultation, possible?
f)	What is the process by which the aims and objectives of a real partnership are established?
g)	How can the roles and responsibilities of individuals within the decision making body be defined?
h)	What alternative policies and practices might enhance representation and what would be the resulting impact on school decision making?
i)	What is the process whereby partnership between parents, professionals and politicians can move towards investment in pupils and their parents?

The contributors to this book and the themes if the International Conference make it clear that the above issues are of critical importance. It is hoped that both will give food for thought to parents, professionals and politicians.

1 . School Organisation and Management in Scotland and Spain - A Comparative Study.
Spain - A Comparative Study.
B. T. Peck and H. A. Ramsay.
Scottish School Board Association 1997.

2. Managing Schools - the European Experience.
B. T. Peck and H. A. Ramsay.
Nova Science New York 1998.

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