6 Collaboration between teachers and parents
Reading activity 2
Click the link below to open the reading Collaboration between teachers and parents in assisting children's reading by J. Tizard, W. N. Schofield and Jenny Hewison (PDF, 0.1 MB, 19 pages).
Collaboration between teachers and parents in assisting children’s reading [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
As you read ‘Collaboration between teachers and parents in assisting children's reading’, by Tizard, Schofield and Hewison, reflect on the following questions:
Which approach to children's reading is reflected in this piece of research?
What would you identify as the most significant factors that contributed to the success of this project?
How far would a project of this sort be appropriate in your own school context? What would you have to do to support such a project in your school?
The Haringey Project (Hewison and Tizard, 1980) is an example of an initiative which combines a whole-book approach with an assumption that parents are the first educators of their children and, as such, should be in control of any parent-child home-based reading project. Reflecting on what she felt was the crucial factor in the success of the Haringey Project Hewison (1988) speculates that it may have been the motivational context of the home itself in which the opportunity for extra reading practice occurred.
Building on the apparent success of the Haringey Project a number of replications were carried out. Among these the Belfield Project (Hannon, 1987) was conducted over five years in a school in a largely white, working-class social priority area in the north of England. In terms of gains in standardised reading tests the results indicated only a slight positive impact on performance in reading. Almost all parents, however, reported that they welcomed the chance of involvement in their children's reading development. One explanation for the relative success of the Haringey Project in comparison with Belfield was that a home-reading programme has a greater impact on minority language families who can be excluded by schools.