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Description
The Płużnica commune (Kujawsko-Pomorskie province) has ca. 4200 inhabitants, and only one primary school, whose performance has been far below the provincial mean for a very long time. The facility management has made attempts to implement new solutions recommended by experts such as no homework, but so far it has only encountered opposition among parents and teachers with a more traditional approach to children’s education and development. But some parents prefer education in which effective teaching is built upon concern about pupils’ emotional wellbeing. Since they are in the minority, their voice is not sufficiently heard – they often do not talk about their ideas aloud, out of fear of being judged. We will support these parents in such areas as communication, health, sexual education and ecology. We will target the project at 26 groups of parents and pupils from Płużnica and 4 individuals related to the local school (headmaster, teachers, representatives of the administrative body). They will take part in a training that will provide them with arguments in discussion on changes needed in school. They will meet regularly, learning how to get more involved in school life, and will jointly look for occasions to act. To experience real action and to promote their arguments, participants will implement 4 initiatives aiming at preventing problems that school is facing within the aforementioned areas. Coaching sessions will be held to help parents overcome difficulties and seek effective solutions. In the final phase of the project, together with our informal partners we will organise an Educational Forum targeted at commune inhabitants and people from the outside on changes proposed for the school.
Summary of project results
The project was a response to the low influence of parents on the functioning of the local school, especially in areas such as communication, children''s physical and mental health, sex education and ecology. We observed that in our school the potential inherent in parents and their involvement in the life of the school is not being realised, as they themselves do not know their rights and possibilities.
The participants in the project were a group of 26 parents from the Płużnica commune whose children attend the local school and 5 teachers from the school. Also involved in the project were activists from the Płużnica Municipality Youth Association and the Płużnica Municipality Office. The project participants took part in 5 training sessions, and we also organised a series of meetings under the common banner of "parents'' meetings". Parents conceived, planned and implemented 4 initiatives concerning problems at school and in cooperation with the school and the Municipality Office organised the Płużnica Education Forum. A website edu.wspóldzielnia.org.pl was created and parents produced an information brochure on child brain function, which was included in the local newspaper. They created two libraries ''grow up with a book'' and supported the ''pink box'' campaign, which made menstrual hygiene products available to female students in the school toilets.
Through participation in the project, the participants - parents and teachers of the local school - have significantly increased their knowledge, learnt new ways to get involved in the life of the school, increased their level of confidence in expressing their views in the area of school functioning. By working together they have integrated themselves around issues and challenges, gaining practical experience of participation at school level. A lasting result of the project is the increased involvement of parents in their children''s education, parents have become convinced that they have a real influence and have shown that they know how to enforce this influence productively and usefully. We have also seen the school become more open to working with parents, which has been evident with each successive initiative.