What is Inquiry?
“Inquiry is understood as a deliberate, sustained and systematic process—beyond the everyday reflection that is required in teaching—where professionals explore what they do and how they do it, and the reasons for both; it involves professionals sharing their inquiries with colleagues… Teachers take a close and critical look at practice, address problems and issues from a variety of perspectives, consider inquiry alternatives, try out new or revised practices, and evaluate the results; then the cycle begins anew based on the outcomes, responses, and possibilities emerging from the inquiry.” (EDUC 450 Syllabus, 2016)
In the UBC teacher education program, teacher candidates develop an inquiry question based on a theme, a disciplinary topic, a particular curriculum emphasis, or an educational issue and propose an inquiry question and exploration plan which they undertake during their long-practicum.
My Inquiry Theme: Parental Involvement in Student Achievement
My Question: Does communication to parents via websites and social media about their child’s education help to increase student engagement and learning at the secondary level?
Why this question?
I am interested in this question because I am now a parent with a child in school and I want to stay in involved in my child’s learning to help him succeed. Now that I am on the teacher side, I can investigate ways to engage the parents who want to be involved in the learning process.
Significance
This inquiry is important because many studies have shown that parental engagement in student learning positively influences student engagement and achievement (g. Catsambis, 2001; Desforges and Abouchaar 2003; Epstein 1992; Fan and Chen, 2001; Sammons et al. 1995).
Schools try to involve parents in the school community but “parental involvement” is often confused with “parental engagement” when they are actually very different (Harris & Goodall, 2008). Engagement refers to parents becoming involved in their child’s learning at home, and it’s this type of engagement that is more likely to result in positive learning outcomes (Harris & Goodall, 2008).
This inquiry uses websites and social media to create a venue for which parents can be informed of course outlines, assignments, and/or projects and that may help them engage with their child’s learning at home. My rationale is if parents have easier access to the “going’s on” in the classroom they may engage more with their child and their learning, and in turn that child will be more engaged and accountable with their school work. Engagement by the child may be expressed through better marks, ownership of assignments (high quality and on-time) and/or improved attendance.
Proposed Inquiry Design
To increase the communication between parents, students and the teacher (i.e. me) I propose the following:
- To create a website for my courses where parents can access course objectives, teaching topics, homework, and projects (completed and due).
- To create a Twitter account(s) to post homework assignments and course related topics/news.
- To create a survey that assesses parent’s thoughts on the communication methods used over the practicum (e.g. Did they use them? Were they useful? Are there other methods they prefer?)
What do I expect to find?
From the students whose parents contact me and/or use the website and/or follow the Twitter account(s), I expect to see an increase in their engagement and learning from the beginning to the end of the practicum. I may see this change through better marks, on-time assignments and better attendance.
Limitations
I suspect the main limitations will be due to parental access to technology and possibly how to use it. However, part of this inquiry is to investigate if communication via technology (websites/social media) is a feasible way to engage with parents.