An exploration of the role of senior leaders in parent-school partnerships

Lauren Searle

This study adds unique contributions to the discussion of parent-school partnerships through exploration of them within the specific context of a residential special school.

With focus on the perceived roles of senior leaders across the residential and education departments, alongside exploration of the benefits and challenges of these partnerships from the perspectives of education leaders, residential leaders, teachers and parents, the study identified key three findings to the research field of parent-school partnerships:

Finding number 1. Firstly, this study reflects the disconnect between theory and practice surrounding authentic parent-school partnerships. 

When discussing their approaches to parent-school partnerships, education leaders explained authentic partnership approaches. However, when providing examples of how they have put this into practice, they tended to discuss traditional partnerships scenarios.

For example, education leaders perceived parents in a positive manner, as valuable resources for young people’s learning, however when discussing decision-making processes to determine support strategies, they discussed seeking input from multi-disciplinary teams across the organisation without mention of seeking parental input.

Finding number 2. Secondly, the added dynamic of residential leaders this study provides due to its residential context, a new finding this study brings to the discussion is that in contrast to education leaders, residential leaders were consistent in both their discussion of authentic parent-school partnerships and examples of their practice the provided.

Residential leaders adopted a strengths-based perception of parents and actively sought their involvement in supporting their young person. This was in alignment with the literature surrounding authentic partnerships, with consensus among parents that they engage in open and honest dialogue with residential leaders.

Finding number 3. Finally, due to the exploration of the roles of both education and residential leaders, this study presents an original challenge to the research field of parent-school partnerships, unique to the context of a residential special school setting.

A key finding of this study was the potential for conflict between the education provision and residential provision due to a difference in priorities between the two environments.

Both provisions faced different challenges and experienced different priorities within their roles which often directly impacted each other’s ability to perform their roles and meet their responsibilities. Although all stakeholders were committed to the universal goal of developing young person’s independence, education and residential leaders faced differing organisational and national pressures and expectations which had potential to cause potential breakdown in the partnership between these stakeholders. 

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Although this study provided a unique dynamic to the research base of parent-school partnerships by exploring the concept within a residential special school context, some limitations and recommendations for further research on the topic are identified.

Firstly, the study relied on a singular research method for data collection, semi-structured interviews. Although stakeholders discussed examples of how they engaged in parent-school partnerships in practice, observational research may have provided further insight into these interactions without reliance on participants historical accounts. 

Furthermore, although the study explored parent-school partnerships from four stakeholders’ perspectives, within the highly multi-agency environments of special schools, inclusion of a greater number of stakeholders from various disciplines would provide a wider account of parent-school partnerships.

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