RESEARCH ARTICLE
Areas for Reforming and Complementing the Family and School Interaction

The Family and School Interaction (FSI) is undoubtedly very effective in promoting the education of children in a society, but this interaction requires the adoption of educational goals as well as frameworks that can produce the best educational outcomes. The educational goals and frameworks, on the one hand, depend on the theoretical foundations and our view of the educational role and position of the family and its relation to that of the school, and on the other hand the environmental conditions and opportunities or challenges for the FSI.

The overall purpose of the present study is to explore the areas and ways of reforming and complementing the FSI.

The study is a qualitative research relying on analyzing the views of Iranian family and education experts. The areas under consideration for reforming and complementing the FSI are the school curricula, and the study examines the role of the family in the most important elements of a curriculum, namely objectives, content, method and evaluation.

The results show that most scholars, professionals, principals, and teachers consider the educational role of the family and its contribution to school education, but their beliefs about this role and its status in relation to that of the school are still unclear. They have often become accustomed to giving the less importance to the family and the most important to the school, and the curricula are often formulated without considering the views and expectations of the family and without parental involvement.

The consideration of the real role of the family and its lasting effects have important implications, including reforming the family education programs, reforming the academic education and in-service teacher trainings, modifying the FSI models, rationalizing the family interventions in school affairs, as well as enhancing the students’ self-esteem and their sense of belonging to school.