Abstract:
Partnership is a key aspect of the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms, ostensibly requiring effective communication channels between schools and their communities. Boards of Trustees (BOT) were established to support this purpose. This case-study critically examines how communication manifests between the BOT and its parental community in one New Zealand low decile primary school. The research examines how and why, formal and informal BOTparent communication structures and processes have evolved in relation to the context of the school, and in comparison to the original intent underpinning the associated state legislation. A case-study comprising a critical approach was considered the best methodology for this investigation. Data was selected, categorised and interpreted on the basis that it revealed the impact of external and internal forces regarding how communication associated with homeschool partnership (HSP), manifests between agents. The qualitative study involved a school wide questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews with four parents, one board member and the principal. Written documents (for example: school policy, Education Review Office reports) formed another important source of data. Social capital and systems theories and, Codd’s (1995) materialistic approach to policy analysis, informed the findings. Communication between parents and the BOT was found to manifest largely through informal networks and settings, alongside more formal written forms of communication. Despite various agents’ best intentions, current communication processes and practices at a macro-level did not necessarily lead to all parents in the school community feeling informed and/or recognising the relevance of BOT related matters in their children’s schooling. This case-study highlights the importance of communication in developing HSP at a macrolevel of children’s schooling, and confirms the complexities stated in the research literature when examining communication within a social organisation. In particular, it draws attention to the impact of contextual forces on the interaction of different groups within an organisation, and observes that despite the intent of the legislation and of schools themselves, bilateral communication between schools, parents and BOTs is not necessarily an automatic or ‘natural’ process.