Voice: A Vital Ingredient for Effective Parental Engagement in the Global South.

• In Event: Voice, Agency and Education

Proposal

Effective parental engagement contributes up to three months’ worth of learning gains within a year (EEF, 2018). A key ingredient to this productive engagement is communication/voice. Research also shows that effective communication should be two-way - denoting the value of shared voice - as this makes parents feel valued in their engagement with schools. Anecdotal evidence from East Africa reveals a widening disconnect between schools and parents/communities, owing to unequal power relations which consequently hinders two-way, respectful communication and a culture of shared voice. In Africa, there is limited evidence on what works in activating the agency of parents to act and partner with schools in such a way that learning outcomes improve. To this end, the authors are part of a regional initiative in East Africa working to synthesize evidence with an aim of packaging a regional framework that can guide the field of parental engagement. Hosting interactive regional learnshops is one strategy of harnessing evidence and insights to inform this process. The authors, (2023) collaborated to host a series of learning events to unpack effective parental engagement practices, among them, voice and how this can be applied to catalyze parental engagement. Ahead of these learning events, participants completed a pre-event questionnaire. A qualitative survey involving 122 respondents and focused on parental and community voice, revealed persistent barriers that continue to hinder effective communication and shared voice between schools and parents/communities, thus limiting the collaboration between the two institutions. This paper will present findings from this survey, highlight effective practices on amplifying the voices of parents by four organizations within East Africa, and how these insights are contributing towards a regionally relevant framework to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of effective Parental Empowerment and Engagement (PE&E) initiatives. Overall, the paper focuses on unpacking the barriers to parental voice in their engagement with schools. Further, it will highlight evidence-based contextualized strategies that have been applied by the four organizations in four varied contexts – arid and semi-arid areas with pastoral communities, rural poor communities, and rural regions but targeting parents of children with disabilities for inclusion – to empower parents to get their voices heard. By getting their voices heard, they claim a sphere of influence within the school system, which in turn activates their agency towards home-based learning support, improved school-family relationships and genuine collaboration for improved learning outcomes. Activating the agency amongst parents awakens latent capacities to protest against dysfunctional schools, limited accountability and low learning outcomes.

Authors

• Virginia Wanjiru Ngindiru, Zizi Afrique Foundation

• Emmy Zoomlamai

• Wangui Wangui Nyaga, GRIC

• Dolorence Were Naswa, Uganda Society for Disabled Children

• Irene Chepngetich, Zizi Afrique Foundation