Parental Involvement, Engagement and Partnership in their Children's Education during the Primary School Years

In recent years, educational research has highlighted the importance of understanding children’s learning as embedded in the social, cultural and family contexts in which it occurs (Alanen, Brooker and Mayell, 2015). This has led to an increasing focus on the role of parents and the ‘home learning environment’, and many studies have identified the profound influence these may have on children’s learning and development both within and beyond formal educational settings (Hayes, O’Toole and Halpenny, 2017). Extensive international research shows that children do better when their parents are actively involved with their education (Borgonovi and Montt, 2012; Desforges and Aboucaar, 2003; Emerson, Fear, Fox and Sanders, 2012; Goodall and Vorhaus, 2008). Thus, designing learning environments to maximise opportunities for bridging communication between children’s home and school may be a significant factor in children’s educational outcomes (Hayes et al., 2017).