Parental influences on children’s learning and wellbeing at home

ACER's 2012-2014 evaluation of the Commonwealth Empowering Local Schools (ELS) initiative about increasing capacity and scope for 900 plus schools from all sectors to make decisions locally shows how some schools give parents more opportunities to engage in their children's learning at home through: (1) de-privatised classrooms; and (2) "flipping classrooms". The former gives parents online access to how teachers construct lesson plans. The latter enables teachers to segment lesson plans between home and school and parents to participate actively in their children's learning at home. The paper situates these findings between prior research into the impact of parental support and encouragement on learning at school and more recent research that suggests how parents, by expanding their influence on children's learning at home, can also enhance their psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. This research also suggests that parental influence on children's learning in the home that flows over into general wellbeing requires a level of parental agency that takes in: (1) specific parental behaviours to increase a child's enjoyment of and belief in the importance of learning; (2) parents' beliefs in their ability to help their children to learn; and, (3) a parental relational style that supports and encourages conversations conducive to their children's wellbeing. By shifting the focus from parents' influence on children's learning at school to their learning at home, the paper concludes that parents can enhance their parental agency while children enjoy enhanced learning outcomes and wellbeing.