Engaging parents and the community

Getting families and the community involved in their children's career education not only improves a school's standing within its community, it also helps improve student learning and achievement.

Joyce Epstein, the founder and director of the National Network of Partnership Schools (John Hopkins University), says "When students, families and community organisations are included, schools have a chance of becoming really effective learning communities."

What are the benefits of getting families and the community involved in career education?

Engaging with family and community in students’ career education helps schools to:

• enhance their understanding of schools and students’ learning processes
• create a wider school community prepared to work together to benefit both the community and students (eg the Gateway programme)
• enhance the school’s standing in the community and build trust
• foster a sense of value and belonging to the community for students
• foster an environment of shared knowledge where complementary skills and understanding are developed
• include parents in their children’s learning and career planning (evidence shows that most parents want to be involved)
• increase resources for and skills of students through extracurricular experiences and education outside the classroom (eg mentoring programmes)
• provide a network for students to more easily find future employment and training.

What and who does a careers community involve?

The opportunities for engagement go far beyond family members and businesses. A careers community can involve:

Linking with your community provides a win-win situation. Review what initiatives you are currently undertaking to try to create a connection with your community. Can you add to or improve on these?

It may also help you to read about what other schools throughout the country are doing to engage parents and the community.