Training | 2009.10.31
Row over schools' help for parents
Research shows most families welcome help, but critics attack \'nationalising\' of parenting
Half of all schools have hired a member of staff to provide support for its pupils\' parents, it has emerged. New figures from the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) show that a few months after the post of parent support adviser was officially introduced, there are already 3,500 in England working in more than 13,000 schools.
The TDA says the aim is to engage parents in their children\'s learning, but critics have accused officials of "nationalising parenting" and interfering in family life. They say schools should be there to teach children, not to act as "pseudo social workers" for adults.
They are particularly critical of the scope of the PSA role, which can include:
■ Running parenting classes to teach people about the best ways to bring up their children and control behaviour.
■ Helping parents who are unemployed to find work.
■ Providing advice on how to deal with problems such as domestic violence, alcohol or drug abuse and depression.
■ Offering classes on literacy and numeracy, as well as sessions on healthy eating, keeping fit and reading with young children.
■ Carrying out home visits when children are misbehaving or truanting.
Alison Lines, a PSA in Dagenham, east London, describes her role as "counsellor, teacher, mum, best friend, good neighbour and sounding board". She organises coffee mornings and seminars and says she has turned up at people\'s homes unannounced but has not been met with hostility.
Despite criticism of the new role, research by the University of Warwick found that 95% of parents who had been helped by a PSA felt more confident about tackling problems, while 88% of senior staff claimed it improved parental engagement. A poll by the TDA, meanwhile, found that parents wanted schools to offer lessons to them as well as their children, with 35% interested in maths and IT classes and 39% saying they would like language help.
Graham Holley, chief executive of the TDA, said the aim was to bridge the gap between parents and the school. Some adults, he said, remembered their own school life negatively so were "reluctant to return to the scene". He added: "The PSA can help to remove barriers and ease that path."
Holley, who admitted the scheme was targeted towards those from the most deprived backgrounds, added: "We did wonder if parents would be resistant to the idea, but the research shows that PSAs are held in high regard by the parents they are working with."
Campaigners said that, while some parents would be defensive about being targeted by a PSA, many would welcome the support. Siobhan Freegard, of the parenting website Netmums, said: "I know a single mum whose child struggles with authority and she feels it is a constant battle with the school because she does not know what she can do."
Freegard said the mother was the type of woman you might expect to be hostile to a PSA. "But actually she would be delighted with that \'interference\'."
Others disagreed. Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, which wants standards raised in schools, said: "Although a minority of parents do need help, I would have thought the introduction of 3,500 PSAs is way over the top. In a way, it is almost nationalising parenthood." Others argued that PSAs were not properly trained. Julia Margo, a specialist in families and education at the think tank Demos, said: "The further you move away from using experts in family therapy and parenting, the less likely it is going to work. We did have a culture of professionalism – if you had a problem, you saw a psychologist or doctor. Now we think it is OK to bring in someone with on-the-street experience to deal with very tricky issues."
People taking up the role are not required to have any particular qualification, but receive a detailed induction and are offered on-the-job training.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009[...]s-hire-parent-support-advisers
