Home School Relationships: Challenges for Teachers and Head Teachers in Pakistan

The connection between home and school is referred to in various ways such as parent involvement, home-school relations or community involvement in schools. This paper conceptualize that connection as a 'partnership with parents being viewed as partners with teachers in educating children. Parental involvement at all stages is crucial for childrens learning, but especially in the early years parenting role is seen as a driving force in their success (Pascal, Henry, cited in Bridge 2001) The idea of such a partnership is one that has been the focus of attention and debate for quite some time though it is not without tensions and problems in many countries. In Pakistan, a large number of Parent-Teacher Associations and School Management Committees have been formed but a recent newspaper report (Amir, 2004) suggests that many are ineffective due to non-representative membership or they are non-functional, existing only on paper. Troublesome though it may be, few would argue that there should be no connection between home and school. So the purpose of this chapter is to explore some ways to strengthen the relationship between teachers and parents. The present need is to continue to build learning communities involving parents and teachers working in partnership with each other. It is recognized that building bridges between home and school needs marathon efforts from both the teachers and the parents and what is absolutely vital is mutual understanding and cooperation on both sides. Parents and teachers can be partners and they have an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what can be achieved when working together in the best interests of the student.