Kanaalweg 86 3533 HG Utrecht Tel. 030 – 2974321 Email: paoo@forum.nl Website: forum.nl

1. FORUM Institute for Multicultural Development PAOO Project Ethnic Minority Parents and Education Platform Kanaalweg 86 3533 HG Utrecht Tel. 030 – 2974321 Email: paoo@forum.nl Website: www.forum.nl

2. Background • Poor school results and high drop-out rates among ethnic minority children • Lack of active involvement at home and in school among ethnic minority parents • Gaps in communication and expectations between schools and ethnic minority parents

3. Objectives • Increased ability of ethnic minority parents to participate and defend their specific interests within schools and through parents’ organisations. • Improved capacity within schools to reach out to ethnic minority parents and develop partnership relations with them for improving their children’s school performance and social development.

4. Project Structure • 1 national platform • 31 local platforms • PAOO FORUM Project Support Team

5. Members National Level Platform • Parents from various ethnic backgrounds and different towns • Representatives of the four national organisations for parents in education, LOM (national ethnic minorities alliance) and ISBO (Islamic schools administration organisation) • Project Officer FORUM - PAOO

6. Tasks National Level Platform • Gauge demand for methods and materials for improving parental involvement • Document / develop and make available materials & tools • Document and disseminate good practices • Provide feed back and knowledge support to the local platforms • Facilitate sharing of experiences and knowledge between platforms • Develop and disseminate knowledge for influencing decision making and policy development

7. National Level Activities • Development of practical tools • Development of a data base • Training workshops • Commission of studies • National thematic conferences • Regional thematic conferences

8. Structure Local platforms • Established in 31 large & middle towns • 5 – 15 members from various ethnic backgrounds, mostly with school going children • Independent year plans within realm of project frame work • Partnerships with local schools, municipalities, service providers and ethnic minority organisations • Supported in practical / managerial tasks by FORUM – PAOO field workers

9. Objectives Local Platforms • Increased awareness and improved involvement and participation of ethnic minority parents in their children’s education and school • Improved efforts of school teachers to actively develop partnership relations with ethnic minority parents for creating optimal chances for ethnic minority children • Improved efforts of schools to create an enabling environment for involvement of and partnership with ethnic minority parents • Increased organisational and institutional capacity of platform

10. Local Activities • Information and awareness raising sessions for parents • Thematic debates for school representatives, parents and/or other stakeholders • Training workshops for teachers • Partnerships with schools • Advisory support to schools • Partnerships with other stakeholders

11. Themes • Parent support for child education • Communication with teachers • Culture gap between home and school • Language barriers • Open school culture • Home visits • Choice of school, education level and future profession • School policy for parental involvement and participation • Segregation in education • Participation of parents in school level committees and boards • Absenteeism and school drop-out • Internship opportunities • Diversity issues in secondary schools • Municipal policies addressing language and learning backlogs, segregation etc.

12. Lessons learned: Inhibiting factors for parental involvement and participation Parents: • Lack insight in school life and education methods • Lack awareness and confidence they can contribute to the school and their children’s education • Lack time and means to actively support their children’s education • Lack language skills to communicate effectively with teachers • Lack knowledge about the Dutch education system • Expect the school to assume full responsibility

13. Lessons learned: Inhibiting factors for parental involvement and participation Schools: • Lack policies for actively engaging ethnic minority parents • Employ inaccessible means of communication for ethnic minority parents • Have a closed culture in the perception of ethnic minority parents • Lack strategies and efforts to bridge the culture gap between school and home Teachers: • Lack skills and insights for intercultural communication • Invest too little in a partnership relation with ethnic minority parents

14. Lessons learned: encouraging and facilitating parental involvement and participation Parents • Ensure adequate information provision about education related subjects • Increase awareness about the importance of active parental involvement for school performance • Increase awareness about parents’ entitlement to a partnership relation with school for creating the best opportunities for their child • Build on the strength of organised parents to change the school culture and wider policies

15. Lessons learned: school level conditions for parental involvement and participation • Clear policies for actively engaging parents - focus on continuous communication - carried by entire school team • Open school culture based on informal contacts, short communication lines and high expectations of parental involvement and participation • Clear expectations between school and parents as serious & responsible partners • Open and outreaching basic attitude of school teachers • Professional development (teacher-training parent consultants)

16. Lessons learned: weaknesses in the project design • High workload on constantly nation-wide travelling field staff • Lack of familiarity with the local situation defining windows of opportunity • Dependence on volunteers for very demanding tasks • Initial negative / unwilling attitudes at schools • Incapacity to reach large numbers of ethnic minority parents

17. Lessons learned: Strengths and Achievements National level: • Increased visibility of the complex factors inhibiting parental involvement and participation • Bridging across existing divisions of Dutch society (religious sectors / ethnic groups) • Capitalising on a growing body of knowledge based on local experiences and defined from the perspective of ethnic minorities • Sharing of experiences, insights and thematic ideas through regional and national workshops involving all platform members, resource persons and relevant stake holders

18. Lessons learned: Strengths and Achievements Local level: • The parents for parents approach represents a unique and powerful instrument to mobilise parents for active school involvement and for uniting parents from different ethnic groups behind a common goal (equal chances in education) • Local platforms consisting of highly motivated active parents represent new valuable partners for schools, municipalities and service providers to bring about change • Organisational strengthening of local platforms through professional guidance and technical back-stopping