The role of parents in family schools

UDC 37.06
DOI 10.20339/AM.04-26.075

Elena Yu. Petryaeva, Cand. Sci. (Pedagogy), Director of the Center for Analytical Research and Modeling in Education, Research Institute of Urban Studies and Global Education, Moscow City University (MCU), https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2817-135X, e-mail: petryaevaeyu@mgpu.ru 

Elena B. Kirichenko, Cand. Sci. (Pedagogy), Associate Professor, доцент кафедры педагогических технологий, Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushinsky, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8502-0729, e-mail: ye.kirichenko@yspu.org

Alina G. Dyakova, ANO Association of Family Schools, https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0098-9775, e-mail: alinasan@list.ru

Elizabeth A. Margolina, Co-founder of the School-Park “Lestnica”, corporate anthropologist, https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3956-3544, e-mail: li99@yandex.ru

Family schools represent a new anthropological practice in education. The conducted research was aimed at identifying the degree of parental influence on various aspects of family schools: strategic management and philosophy, organization of educational activities, environment/lifestyle, and financial and economic activities. For the study, a representative sample of 100 family school projects was formed across Russia (34 subjects, 7 federal districts). The research is based on quantitative and qualitative methods: 30 expert interviews and 100 questionnaires from the founders. The analysis of the results allowed us to draw conclusions: the participation of parents is heterogeneous — there is not a single parameter where parents would fully influence or completely abandon the influence. In most cases, parents influence the daily and vital aspects. Parents actively influence the individualization of learning, emphasizing the need for a personalized approach and willingness to accompany the process. Issues of safety, regime and nutrition are in the zone of direct or partial parental influence. The parent project team is usually responsible for the sustainability of the project and commitment to the chosen philosophy, while the participating parents shape the environment and lifestyle within a given strategic framework. From an anthropological point of view, family schools create a new culture of interaction between the school itself, represented by its organizers, teachers and parents, which promotes the manifestation of the subjectivity of the latter, creating a relationship of sustainable and conscious social partnership between all participants.

Keywords: family education, alternative education, family school, family educational initiative, parent cooperation

Acknowledgments. The team of authors expresses its gratitude to the Consortium “Family Education” for organizing and conducting the study, as well as to all the project managers of family schools who participated in it.

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