Cultural influences, location and income all play a role in parent’s expectations of their child’s academic success, according to a new study from ASG and Monash University.
According to the ASG Parents Report Card, 69 per cent of parents believe schools should do more to teach their child about social skills. When ethnicity is factored in, the proportion increases substantially to 94 per cent among Indian and other Asian parents. Furthermore, 49 per cent of parents agree they would like their child’s school to do more about teaching them how to behave in public, which increases to 74 per cent among Indian and other Asian parents.
“The findings suggest there are increasingly blurred lines as to where responsibility begins and ends as parents’ perceptions of their traditional roles and responsibilities change,” said John Velegrinis, CEO, ASG.
Released today, the ASG Parents Report Card has investigated the state of education in Australia from parents’ perspective.
Undertaken by Associate Professor Sivanes Phillipson and Associate Professor Shane N. Phillipson at the Faculty of Education at Monash University, the report reveals that parents want teachers to do more when it comes to teaching their child about social and life skills inside the classroom.
“Historically, social and life skills are taught within the home and the development of skills and knowledge needed for a successful career have been taught in school. However, perceptions about what equals academic success is changing and so, for today’s parents social and life skills are becoming an increasingly important element in education,” Mr Velegrinis said.
“The report confirms that parents want teachers to play a greater role developing their children’s life skills. However, there was a strong but divided stance on discussing topical issues, such as sexuality and cyber safety; with the level of input depending on the cultural background and age of the child.”
The analysis revealed that parents have strong views on how the school environment keeps pace with topical issues, such as sexuality and cyber safety.
Just 34 per cent of all parents agree schools are the best place for their child to learn about sexuality.
The ASG Parents Report Card found that parents of younger children would like schools to be more involved in teaching their child about cyber safety. Fifty four per cent of all parents would like teachers to do more to protect their child from cyber predators, and this percentage increases for parents with children in early learning and primary school.
