As I have research more in depth into my topic there have been a couple shifts in my thinking. The first is the ultimate benefit of the student. In the first round of my research, I focused more of the barriers and challenges to forming strong home-school relationships as well as a few strategies to do so. While finding articles and resources for the second time, I had a realization that the reason to forming strong home-school relationships is ultimately for the benefit of the student. If it is not student-focused then why are we concerned with forming these types relationships? The research presented by Fuller (2010) of The Benefits of Parent Involvement: What Research Has to Say was a very useful resource because it broke down the benefits of parental involvement into the benefits for the child, the teacher, the parent, the school, and the community. It was a comprehensive meta-analysis, citing eighty-five studies in their collection of data.
Thinking about how I can link my research on my topic into practicum and my further practice in education I think it would beneficial to try out some of the strategies my research has outlined. I have already connected with some of the parents of the students in my class because of field trips, meetings about the students, and friendly conversation at the classroom door. However, to further extend these relationships as well as reach out to parents/guardians I have no met it would be valuable for me to make a phone call home in the first few weeks of my extended practicum. This phone call would be a positive interaction, telling the students home adult that they have a positive impact on the classroom. This way, I can start building a relationship with home in case anything should come up when I am the primary teacher in the classroom. I am lucky in that we have an outside door directly in the classroom so I can chat with parents before and after school while they drop-off/pick-up their child. These simple strategies are great to try out during my extended practicum because I have the support of my School Advisor, Faculty Advisor and administration.