Reflection on effective partnership with parents to support children's Essay

Reflection on effective partnership with parents to support children's learning and development - Essay Example This essay will discuss models of parental involvement. It will give the strengths and weaknesses of the preferred model. Then it will compare the preferred model to the approach in practice and investigate practices that can be changed. There are five models that highlight the involvement of parents in a Childs learning and development (The Open University, 2010, p. 53). They include the expert model, consumer model, transplant model, empowerment model and negotiation model. The expert model entails giving the teacher or professional a lot of responsibility for leaning and development while the parent remains passive. The teacher is considered knowledgeable and; hence all decision making is done by the teacher. The parents together with the child rely on the instructions that the teacher will give. Interaction between the parent and the teacher is low. The teacher communicates formally to the parent about progress and as they give instructions. The teacher in return does not show any concern in partnership and continually uses professional language to communicate. The transplant model is characterized by an overstraining on the part of the parent, in place of partnering with the instructor or teacher. The teacher being in control shares the task of teaching with the parent. For instance, a parent is shown how to teach by the teacher to assist the child learn. The parent is involved in impacting knowledge yet they could play their part by interacting with the child. Consumer model places interest on the partnership of the parent and the teacher. Parents initiate participation in school progress and then raise their concerns. Parents get to know their children’s environment and bring them to learning institutions as well as pick them later in the day. Relationship between the teacher and the parent is formal. Parents desire informal situations in the learning