The following materials have been developed for Schools.
The Career pathway training for parents: A tool-kit for schools was developed as part of the Parents Matter project and is designed to assist schools around career pathway training for parents:
The Parents Matter project resources and website aim to address the gap between parental aspirations for their children and parental knowledge about Tasmanian industries of the future (food, tourism, advanced manufacturing, health), education pathways to those careers, and to better understand and support their children’s career and education aspirations. This website also provides access to research, information resources and tools for schools and other professionals on parental engagement.
Most children begin to make choices about broad career and post school education participation when they are in junior secondary school or, for some, earlier (Alloway et al. 2004). Those children who do not see themselves continuing past year 10 may make subject choices in years 9 and 10 that limit their post year 10 options.
Most outreach programs in Tasmania target older secondary children, with very few programs available to parents. Yet parents/families play a pivotal role in supporting and advising their children about further education and have a significant impact on children’s educational aspirations and expectations (Khattab 2015; Alloway et al. 2004).
The quality of parent conversations with their children is strongly influenced by their own educational experiences (Webb et al 2015; Sullivan 2001). Although parents want the best for their children, they may not have the educational experiences themselves to draw upon to support their children’s educational aspirations (Alloway et al. 2004; Kilpatrick and Abbott-Chapman 2002).
Career pathway training for parents/careers is a great way to address the gap between parental aspirations for their children and parental knowledge about Tasmanian industries of the future (food, tourism, advanced manufacturing, health), education pathways to those careers, and to better under-stand and support their children's career and education aspirations.
The Parents Matter project is funded by the Tasmanian Community Fund, 2016-2017, and Skills Tasmania, 2018
References:
Alloway, N., Gilbert, P., Gilbert, R., and Muspratt, S. (2004). Factors impacting on student aspirations and expectations in regional Australia. Department of Education, Science and Training, Australia, Canberra.
Kilpatrick, S., and Abbott-Chapman, J. (2002). "Rural young people’s work/study priorities and aspirations: The influence of family social capital." The Australian Educational Researcher, 29(1), 43-67.
Khattab, N. (2015). Students’ aspirations, expectations and school achievement: what really matters?. British Educational Research Journal, 41(5), 731-748.
Funded by the Ian Potter Foundation, the project’s principal goal was to lift Tasmanian educational retention and attainment by improving the quantity and quality of parental and community engagement in primary and high schools. Objectives included:
- shared understanding among Tasmanian schools, parents and communities of good practice in working together to improve children’s educational attainment
- a process to share good practice in school-parent-community partnerships with the wider community and other communities
- improved capacity among school leaders to engage parents and community in school-parent-community partnerships
- greater parental and community involvement in their schools to improve students engagement in learning and consequently help them reach their educational potential
The below resources for schools developed in this project have been designed to support schools to strengthen their own parent and community partnerships. They include templates to assist in creating and delivering a partnership plan. We acknowledge and thank the 12 Tasmanian Schools and the Tasmanian Department of Education for their involvement in this project.
- School-Parent-Community Workshop - Attendance (PDF 69.7 KB)
- School-Parent-Community Workshop - Communication (PDF 803.8 KB)
- School-Parent-Community Workshop - Distance (PDF 342.6 KB)
- School-Parent-Community Workshop - Marketing (PDF 69.8 KB)
- School-Parent-Community Workshop - Participation (PDF 256.4 KB)
- School-Parent-Community Engagement Landscape Audit (PDF 175.5 KB)
- School-Parent-Community Engagement Landscape Audit (DOCX 153.6 KB)
- School-Parent-Community Partnership Plan (PDF 137.1 KB)
- School-Parent-Community Partnership Plan (DOCX 66.9 KB)
- Data Collection Template (XLSX 101.6 KB)
Equipping parents to support their children's aspiration: What works?
Regardless of their socio-economic status, most parents report that they want 'the best' for their children's futures. Parents from backgrounds of relative socio-economic advantage usually have 'educational cultural capital' to support their children's educational aspiration. Less is known about what resources might be drawn on to support such aspirations in families experiencing relative socio-economic disadvantage. This project addresses that evidence gap. A comprehensive international literature review will help identify features of parent engagement and information programs and resources that are cost efficient and effective in informing and supporting those experiencing such disadvantage. The insights gained will be used to create a web resource for use by various organisations to inform the design of parent engagement and information programs and tools.
The below resources for schools were developed in this project:
Other useful links and resources that may be used to inform or be shared with school staff, parents and community members:
Disclaimer – This website is not intended to be used to as a career development and counselling resource. This a resource-based website that provides access to external information and resources only and does not take responsibility for these websites. All information true and correct at time of publication.
