Parents Opinions On How Parents And Schools Can Work Together In Order To Improve Oral Language Development For Their Children

Abstract

The aim of this research project is to determine the ways in which parents think that schools and parents can work together in order to achieve the best outcomes for children in relation to their oral language development. It was a multi-methods study, which used a survey to ascertain the views of parents of 126 junior and senior infant children on developing children’s oral language. The results of these surveys were then further investigated through the use of four semi- structured telephone interviews. The researcher analysed the data through a six step thematic coding approach and the findings show that the majority of parents believe that we could enhance children’s oral language skills through an increase in communication between school and home, some changes to the way in which teachers/schools assign homework, to allow for more oral based work. The importance of language and confidence in language as a tool for communication and giving the child voice also emerged as important from the findings. These findings were used by the researcher to make a number of recommendations for future practice and research. It is hoped that findings from this study will influence school policy and practice in relation to working with parents and supporting learning at school and at home.