Developing Positive Partnerships with Parents
Keywords:
Partnerships, Teacher-Parent Relationship, SEN, Special Educational Needs, CollaborationAbstract
Working in positive partnerships with parents is one of the keys to the educational success of children with special educational needs (SEN). While this is a worthy goal, negotiating positive partnerships may be elusive in many educational contexts. This paper discusses the key issues in working collaboratively with parents and outlines a workshop context in which participants were given opportunities to experience collaborative partnerships first hand.
References
Bennett, B., and Rolheiser, C. (2001) Beyond Monet: The Artful Science of Instructional Integration, Toronto, ON: Bookation Inc.
Beveridge, S. (1999) Special Educational Needs in Schools, London: Routledge.
Biklen, D. (1985) Achieving the Complete School: Strategies for Effective Mainstreaming, New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Council for Exceptional Children (1998) What Every Special Educator Must Know: The International Standards for the Preparation and Certification of Special Education Teachers (3rd ed), Reston, VA: Author.
Department for Education (1994) Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Need, London: DfE.
Davern, L. (1996) Listening to Parents of Children with Disabilities, Educational Leadership, Vol. 53 (4), pp. 61-63.
Davies, J.D. and Davies, P.A. (1985) Parents, Teachers and Children with Special Needs. In Cullingford, C. (ed.) Parents, Teachers and Schools, London: Robert Royce Ltd., pp. 117-129.
deBono, E. (1994) Parallel Thinking: From Socratic Thinking to de Bono Thinking, London: Penguin Books Ltd.
Engel, D. M. (1993) Origin Myths: Narratives of Authority, Resistance, Disability, and Law, Law and Society, Vol. 27 (4), pp. 785-826.
Freeman, A. and Gray, H. (1989) Organizing Special Needs: A Critical Approach, London: Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd.
Friend, M. and Cook, L. (2000) Interactions: Collaborative Skills for School Professionals (3rd ed), Don Mills, ON: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Fullan, M. (1991) The Meaning of Educational Change (2nd ed), London: Cassell.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T. and Holubec, E. J. (1988) Cooperation in the Classroom, Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.
Jordan, A. (1994) Skills in Collaborative Consultation, London: Routledge.
Lesar, S., Benner, S. M., Habel, J. and Coleman, L. (1997) Preparing General Education Teachers for Inclusive Settings: A Constructivist Teacher Education Program, Teacher Education and Special Education, Vol. 20 (3), pp. 204-220.
Lombardi, T.P. and Hunka, N.J. (2001) Preparing General Education Teachers for Inclusive Classrooms: Assessing the Process, Teacher Education and Special Education, Vol. 24 (3), pp. 183-197.
Minke, K. M. and Scott, M. M. (1993) The Development of Individualized Family Service Plans: Roles for Parents and Staff, The Journal of Special Education, Vol.27 (1), pp. 82-106.
Mittler, P. (2000) Working Towards Inclusive Education: Social Contexts, London: David Fulton Publishers.
Mittler, P. and Mittler, H. (eds) (1995) Innovations in Family Support for People with Learning Disabilities, London: Paul Brookes Publishing Company.
McLaughlin, M. J. (1995) Individual Education Programs: Issues and Options for Change, Final report for the Office of Special Education Programs & National Association of State Directors of Special Education, Alexandria, VA: NASDSE.
Pinkus, S. (2003) All Talk and No Action: Transforming the Rhetoric of ParentProfessional Partnerships into Practice, Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, Vol. 3 (2), pp. 115-121.
Sindelar, P. T. (1995) Full Inclusion of Students with Learning Disabilities and its Implications for Teacher Education, Journal of Special Education, Vol. 29 (2), pp. 234-245.
Smith, J. D. (1998) Inclusion: Schools for All Students. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Stanovich, P. (1996) Collaboration: The Key to Successful Instruction in Today’s Inclusive Schools, Intervention in School and Clinic, Vol. 32 (1), pp. 39-42.
Thomas, G., Walker, D. and Webb, J. (1998) The Making of the Inclusive School, London: Routledge.
Turnbull, A. P. and Turnbull, H.R. (1997) Families, Professionals, and Exceptionality: A Special Partnership, Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc.
UNESCO (1994) The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs, Paris: UNESCO.
Waggoner, K. and Wilgosh, L. (1990) Concerns of Families of Children with Learning Disabilities, Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol. 23 (2), pp. 97-98; 113.
Welch, M. (1996) Teacher Education and the Neglected Diversity: Preparing Educators to Teach Students with Disabilities, Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 47 (5), pp. 355-367.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
Authors contributing to REACH: Journal of Inclusive Education in Ireland retain the copyright of their article and at the same time agree to publish their articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License allowing third parties to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms:
- Attribution (BY): You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial (NC): You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- NoDerivatives (ND): If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
Learn more about Creative Commons licensing.