Engaging Parents in Cooperation with Schools

The project “Engaging Parents in Cooperation with Schools” continued the long-standing partnership between NGO “Unique Country” and Fundacja Civis Polonus. Within this cooperation, we brought together representatives of the educational community around an important idea: a school becomes stronger when its administration, teachers and parents act not separately, but as partners.

The goal of the project was to unite the efforts of school administrations, teachers and parents in order to develop new approaches to interaction between educational institutions and students’ families. For NGO “Unique Country”, this topic is a natural continuation of our work in education, democratic practices, the development of civic participation and responsible cooperation among different participants in public life.

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Study visit to Warsaw

The first stage of the initiative was a five-day study visit of Ukrainian educators to Warsaw. During the visit, participants learned about Polish models of cooperation between educational institutions and parents, and also saw how partnership-based approaches can work in practice.

As part of the visit, meetings were held with representatives of Polish organizations working in the field of education development. This gave participants the opportunity not only to receive new information, but also to compare approaches, ask practical questions and see which tools could be adapted to the Ukrainian educational context.

An important result of this stage was the development of a concept for a training programme for Ukrainian schools aimed at strengthening partnership-based interaction among teachers, school administrations and parents.

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Workshops for educators in Ukraine

The second stage of the project was a series of workshops that covered 7 regions of Ukraine. Teachers, representatives of school administrations and educational communities had the opportunity to practise modern communication strategies aimed at developing partnership-based cooperation between parents and schools.

In total, 20 workshops were held within the project, with 305 representatives of the educational community taking part.

The topics of the events included:

• building a culture of cooperation between schools and students’ families;
• encouraging parents’ active participation in school life;
• developing effective communication among teachers, administration and parents;
• practical recommendations on involving parents in jointly addressing issues important to the school;
• finding tools to create a more open and trusting educational environment.

For many participants, the workshops became not only a learning space, but also a space for professional dialogue. Educators shared their own experiences, discussed challenges in cooperation with parents and looked for realistic solutions that could be implemented in their schools.

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What the project gave participants

Feedback from participants showed that cooperation between schools and parents remains a highly relevant topic for Ukrainian education. Teachers noted the practical value of the project, the opportunity to gain new ideas and to rethink their own approaches to working with students’ families.

It was especially important that participants spoke not only about specific communication tools, but also about changing the very logic of cooperation. This means gradually moving from formal informing of parents toward a partnership-based dialogue, in which each side has its own role, responsibility and opportunity to be heard.

In the context of the implementation of the New Ukrainian School concept, where partnership pedagogy is one of the key principles, projects like this are particularly important. They help shape healthier, more open and more proactive interaction among all participants in the educational process.

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Partnership and support

The project was supported within the framework of the RITA — “Changes in the Region” programme, funded by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation.

For NGO “Unique Country”, this initiative continued our long-standing cooperation with Fundacja Civis Polonus in the field of student self-government, democratic practices and partnership-based interaction in Ukrainian education.

We value this partnership because it allows us not only to learn from useful international experience, but also to jointly search for practical solutions for Ukrainian schools, communities and educational networks.

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Why this matters

A school is not only a place where children learn. It is also an important space for interaction, trust, responsibility and shared community development. When parents, teachers and school administrations are able to hear one another and work together, the educational environment becomes more resilient, safer and more open to change.

The experience of this project showed the need to further develop this area, expand the geography of such initiatives and integrate the experience gained into a broader system of educational activities in Ukraine.

NGO “Unique Country” continues to support educational initiatives that help people develop knowledge, responsible participation and the capacity to act together for stronger communities.