Families, Schools and Contexts

Objectives

Due to on-going changes in society, families and schools require a new educational approach that is more in tune with integrated proposals for child education. In recent years, many schools have tried to implement a model of open participatory centres that take into account families, the context and the community. This subject provides theoretical foundations that underlie this educational perspective, as well as knowledge of projects and practical experiences that will give an insight into the educational work of schools and connections with families and contexts. We focus on: providing resources to promote educational integration of students with difficulties and understanding the educational process of teaching and learning for the 0-12 years' age group.

Learning outcomes

• The student analyses different models of families and knows about social and educative implications.
• The student knows the main theoretical elements of family and community relevance in formal education.
• The student can design programs in formal education that include pupils, teachers, families and community.
• The student can design programs to improve the family-school relationship.
• The students argue critically about their own educational practices, can establish links with other subjects and design improvement plans.

Competencies

General skills

• Know about, respect and promote basic rights of individuals.

Specific skills

• Analyse and assess the current educational system and its impact on the development of culture and a sustainable democracy.
• Analyse, reflect on and promote the importance of teaching within the educational community, cultural life and society in general.
• Carry out effective comprehensive tutorial supervision with school children and families in order to promote comprehensive skills training.
• Understand how to organise and participate in schools in order to improve educational quality through innovation and research projects with impact in and out of school.
• Work in contexts of diversity and inclusion in collaboration with families and other professionals and services, making use of strategies and resources to reduce barriers to learning and promote individual development.

Basic skills

• Students have demonstrated knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds on general secondary education with the support of advanced textbooks and knowledge of the latest advances in this field of study.

Core skills

• Display professional skills in complex multidisciplinary contexts, working in networked teams, whether face-to-face or online, through use of information and communication technology.
• Exercise active citizenship and individual responsibility with a commitment to the values of democracy, sustainability and universal design, through practice based on learning, service and social inclusion.

Content

1. Education today
   1. The world is changing
   2. Long life learning
   3. Institutions and (new) spaces of education
   4. Is educational network the answer?
2. School and families
   1. Families and education: changes in historical perspective
   2. Educational functions and practices in family
   3. Parental styles: diversity, inequalities, models and debates
   4. Families' class/ethnicity and teacher's expectations
   5. Family-school laws (in Catalan)
   6. Family-school relationship
   7. Family-school communication and ICT's
   8. Interviews
   9. Parents' school
3. School and context
   1. Deschooling society and "everything and everyone can educate"
   2. Educating cities and Educational city projects
   3. Family-school-community projects: Plans Educatius d'Entorn
   4. The city of the children
   5. Familiar spaces, learning communities and Magnet Schools
   6. Other projects: learning-service (aprenentatge-servei); socio-educational teams in schools, summer programs, Education 360º, etc.

Evaluation

The evaluation will be based on several elements. To pass the subject it is mandatory to pass all the individual assignments:

1. Attendance, class participation and group tasks in the classroom (20% of the final mark). If the students fail these activities, a re-sit is no possible.
2. Individual essay about one question/subject/issue (40% of the final mark). Between 15 and 20 pages.
3. Exam with notes (40% of the final mark). Based on cases, the exam will assess the student's capacity to enact practically subject key concepts and perspectives. A re-sit is possible.

As none of us think, write, or study in a vacuum, academic writing always requires engaging with the work of other scholars. Appropriately using, acknowledging and writing about their work is essential. It will enable you to:

1. clearly separate your ideas and arguments from those of others;
2. give evidence or examples of research that support your own arguments; and
3. demonstrate a piece of writing is all your own work.

All of these are important skills to master to be able to write, but the final one is absolutely essential in any open exam or coursework. Intellectual inquiry can only take place when we can trust authors and we can trace how their thoughts and evidence draws on other scholars. This is why the University has enforceable rules on academic misconduct and plagiarism. That includes the use of Chat GPT and other AI tools.

Methodology

The class sessions will be diverse, focusing on the concepts and key ideas of each topic, with the explanation from the professors with the support of PowerPoint presentations, images, videos and texts, on which activities will be appointed; and group assignments and group projects, its development and presentation.

The individual appointments/tutorials will focus on the learning process of the students.

Bibliography

Bibliography

• Collet, J, Tort, A. (2017). Escola, família i comunitat. Octaedro.
• Collet, J., Naranjo, M., Soldevila, J. (Eds.) (2022). Global inclusive education: Lessons from Spain. Springer.
• Crozier, G. (2016). Better together. Family, school and community partnership in urban context. Rotterdam.
• Epstein, J. (2001). School, Family and Community Partnerships. Westview Press.
• Weiss, H. et al. (2014). Preparing educators to engage families. Case studies an ecological systems framework (3 ed.). Hardvard Family Project.

Reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.