Parental involvement in children's learning

The Supreme Education Council will hold its annual symposium on Monday March 17,2008 entitled “Parents: Partners in Education.”
The Symposium aims to shed light on the power of parental involvement in education and will provide information to parents and other stakeholders about effective parental engagement strategies and methods .

It will feature Dr. Heather B. Weiss, the Founder and Director of Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) and is a Senior Research Associate and Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She will share her research on the powerful impact of parental involvement in education and discuss practical ways for parents to engage in their child’s education.. Mr. Ajlan Al-Enazi, a member of the Board of Trustees of Khalifa Educational Complex, will also participate in the symposium and discuss the role the boards can play in engaging parents in the education process.

The importance of parental engagement in education is strongly supported by research, which shows that educational outcomes, student confidence and test scores improve the more involved parents become. Some examples of successful engagement include: reading with your children, attending school meetings and activities, regularly speaking with your children’s teachers, participating in voting for Board of Trustee members, and monitoring your child’s homework.

Before the Symposium, we would like to hear your view on the role parents should play in their child’s education? What are the best ways for parents to engage? How can schools best engage parents? If you are a parent, how engaged are you and what do you do?

We greatly welcome your input and hope to have a lively discussion online before the symposium. If you have specific questions you would like addressed during the symposium, feel free to post them on this blog, We hope to see you on March 17!