PARENT EMPOWERMENT IN QUEENSLAND A STRATEGIC CONVERSATION

STARTER

This simple minded conversation starter is based on the following WORLD VIEW

WORKING HYPOTHESIS This exploration is based on the following working hypotheses/assumptions

A personal conviction that transformational change in the education sector cannot be achieved without informed parent/community engagement: -

The encouragement From: Beverly N. Raimondo1 Director of Center for Parent Leadership/

Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership, (CIPL, and Kentucky USA) that has a track record of transferring their learning about training developed for your community, that prepares parents to be productive, successful education partners to diverse local communities. Beverley has indicated “And yes, I would love to begin a dialogue about helping it happen in Australia.”

The research of the Harvard Family Research Project 2 which suggests “From an initial 3-year

evaluation we learned that CIPL Fellows significantly increased their knowledge about schools and school reform, built their confidence to work in those settings, and expanded their willingness to act for the betterment of all students in their community.

BACKGROUND Situation The potential for transformational change in education institutions and systems has been weakened by current practices that espouse engagement of parents and community members as equal partners in education delivery and practice random acts of involvement. The capability/ credibility gap of parent and community engagement in many Queensland schools lies between intent and implementation. Context Opportunities A brief analysis of the context in which this proposal is embedded, identifies excellent opportunities for the engagement the boundary partners (students, parents, business, community and educational leaders) in the design, implementation and review of innovative educational practices that create shared value in the local spaces of engagement. Political

Global emphasis on engagement of citizens in policy formulation ,implementation and review as co designers rather than passive “consumers”

Education seen as value driver for sustainability

National debate on constitutional matters of inclusion and cultural diversity,

State opportunities to explore the Queensland Education Trust from mining sources Historical

Result based management systems and high stakes testing regimes being challenged as drivers for transformational change in education.

Economic

Going beyond philanthropy to focus on results based management and shared value creation for business/community partnering to produce a Return on Investment measured by metrics of social/environmental /financial benefit.

Environment

Resilience a focus in the face of climate change responsiveness. Social

Cultural diversity an asset to add value to education Technological

Open source tools available to all boundary partners in the space of engagement level perceived power differentials

1 Beverly N. Raimondo, Director, Center for Parent Leadership/Commonwealth Institute for Parent

Leadership

Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence 2Parents as Educational Leaders , Harvard Family Research Project Volume XIV, Number 1 & 2, Spring 2008 Issue Topic: Building the Future of Family Involvement Evaluations to Watch http://www.hfrp.org/evaluation/the-evaluation-exchange/issue-archive/building-the-future-of-family-involvement/parents-as-educational-leaders

CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS

WHY DO THIS?

What do we want? (goals)

FOCUS

EMPOWER PARENTS

IN QUEENSLAND

WHAT RESULTS COULD WE DELIVER ?

What have we got? (resources; strengths) What do we need to develop?

(challenges; gaps) How will we know it's working, or not working? (evaluation);

HOW CAN WE SET THE ENABLING STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS

TO DELIVER THE INTENT ?

How do we begin? (first steps) How do we get them to hear it? (delivery)

WHO CAN MAKE COMPLEMENTARY

CONTRIBUTIONS? What WE KNOW ABOUT WHO WE KNOW?

(resources; strengths)

Who can give it to us? (audiences) What do they need to hear?

(messages) Who do they need to hear it from? (messengers)

APPENDIX 3 THREE DIMENSIONAL BOUNDARY PARTNER ANALYSIS FRAME