Overcoming Barriers to Family Engagement Around Behaviour

Behaviour doesn’t happen in a vacuum: what goes on at home affects behaviour in our settings, and vice versa. That’s why developing a coherent family engagement strategy that encompasses staff, parents and carers, and individuals is crucial for effective behaviour support.

Strong home-school partnerships have enormous potential to positively influence many aspects of our children and young people’s lives. As with most things, consistency is the key to success, and given the renewed focus on behaviour across the education sector, we need to work even more closely with parents and carers.

By adopting a collaborative, joined-up approach to family engagement, we can equip them with the tools they need to offer the best support to their child – something that many schools already do very successfully.

Barriers to effective family engagement

For some schools, however, there can be a number of barriers to overcome, both within and beyond the school gates.

Internal prejudices

Uncomfortable as it may be to accept, sometimes we – leaders, teachers, and support staff – pose one of the main obstacles to effective family engagement. Whether we are aware of it or not, we all bring our own biases and prejudices to our roles, and this is no different when we think about behaviour, and the families we are supporting.

We may hold deeply-ingrained views about some parents and carers, views that have been cemented over time, and that prevent us from approaching situations objectively. We may even hear comments from staff such as, ‘That family’s a nightmare to deal with’, or ‘She’s a really pushy parent.’

Whether these views are held individually or collectively, they can be tricky to uncover and eradicate, and can stifle a positive approach to family engagement.

Changing expectations

There’s no doubt that, over the last few years, and certainly since the pandemic, expectations have shifted around the home-school relationship. Lines have become blurred, with some parents and carers expecting more access to and contact with staff.

While increased communication is arguably a good thing, and the majority of families are respectful of leaders’ and teachers’ time, it can be hard to manage and control access to staff.

When clear boundaries are not set out or adhered to, it can quickly lead to feelings of frustration and resentment on both sides, and can actually push families further away.

Families’ perceptions of us