This paper is a part of larger effort to produce "local knowledge" in the area of school-community-family relationship (Singh, et al 1999).  Historically, "outsiders" and a selected few nominated by the dominant forces of the day have been involved in producing knowledge in this province.  As Greene (1999, p. 3) points out, "until the founding of Memorial University in 1949, Newfoundlanders were denied the privilege of post-secondary institution that could develop local studies."  Even today ordinary citizens in this province have generally been discouraged from producing knowledge based on their daily experiences.  They feel intimidated in recording and disseminating their experiential and observation-based knowledge.  Greene (1999, p. 4) writes that "On the personal level, the individual Newfoundlander, regardless of class, has historically shown an aversion to preserving written records; and the few who were courageous enough to perform the feat have always been denigrated as hoarders ----- Oral tradition has held sway for centuries and remains still the richest source available for gaining an understanding of the everyday lives of people of Newfoundland's past."  This situation has been changing, however, as more and more people are learning about how "official" and "state" forms of knowledge are socially constructed, preserved and strategically disseminated either to maintain the status quo or to change it (Singh, parts I & II, 1991; Finlayson, 1994).  More than ever before, people in this province now feel confidence in their common sense ability to understand how the society works and how the culture influences their views and behaviours.  For example, based on their understanding of social and cultural processes parents, students, teachers, families and communities were able to contest the recent reorganization of the school system in this province under the umbrella of educational reform.  They were able to point out the contradictions and mismatch of the "official" knowledge which guided educational reform (see the recent pages of the Telegram and other local papers).

 Many writers recognize the importance of local knowledge and local theorising.  This form of knowledge and theorising helps people to enhance  their well-being in the concrete context in which they work and live (Andrews, J., et al. 1999).  In the context of school-family-community relation, local knowledge and theories produced by teachers, parents, students, and others help them to focus on the concrete relationship on which their daily lives depend (Geertz, 1983; Schibeci and Grundy, 1987: Tripp, 1987; Smyth, 1989). 

 This paper discusses, first, the benefits of parental involvement in  education.  Based on their personal observations and experiences (local knowledge), the authors discuss some reasons for increased parental involvement at Random Island Academy.  This is a small K-12 school serving eleven communities in rural Newfoundland.  The authors then go on and describe some ways parents at this school have been involved, thus building strong, positive family, community and school relations.  Following this, the focus shifts as the authors pay more attention to the impact of father's participation in their children's education.  This they do in two ways:  by providing a brief and selective review of literature in this area and by describing a Newfoundland perspective on father's involvement in certain schools in this province.  The paper ends with a description of an episode the authors experienced in some schools in this province.  This incident may demonstrate that there are some unreachable parents --- so called "Parents from Hell" (Warner & Curry, 1997).  These individuals can slow down attempts by schools, families and communities to build positive reciprocal relationships to help children do well in schools.
 

Benefits of Parental Involvement 

 Henderson (1987) points out some of the most important research findings about parental involvement that we should know.  These are that (1) the family provides the child's primary educational environment; (2) involving parents in their children's formal education improves student achievement; (3) parent involvement is most effective when it is comprehensive, long-lasting, and well-planned; (4) the benefits are not confined to early childhood or the elementary level; there are strong effects from involving parents continuously throughout high school; (5) involving parents in their own children's education at home is not enough to ensure the quality of schools as institutions serving the community; parents must be involved at all levels in the school; (6) children from low-income and majority families have the most to gain when schools involve parents, and parents do not have to be well-educated to help, and (7) we cannot look at the school and home in isolation from one another but must see how they interconnect with each other and with the world at large.

 When parents show a strong interest in their children's schooling, they tend to promote the development of attitudes that are the key to achievement, attitudes that are more of a product of how the family interacts than of its social class or income.  If schools treat parents as powerless or unimportant or if they discourage parents from taking an interest, they promote the development of attitudes in parents, and consequently in their children, which inhibit achievement (Henderson, 1981, p. 3).  Studies continue to show that, in reality, parents from all walks of life are interested in getting involved in their children's schooling.  It is up to the educators to discover how to reach them and how to make their involvement a positive, productive experience (Warner, 1997).

 Below we will show how the educators at Random Island Academy, a small rural K-12 school located in Hickman's Harbour, Newfoundland, are making parents' involvement a positive and worthwhile experience for everyone.
 

Contributing Factors to Increased Parental Involvement 

 From personal observations, and based on local knowledge, we provide examples of programs offered in this school which have been quite successful in connecting Random Island Academy with the families and communities sending children to the school.  One of us has been a teacher at this school for ten years.  During this time, there have been four different administrators.  The change in administration is only one reason for an  increase in parental involvement.  Other factors that have increased parental involvement over the past ten years are educational reform, school development, declining enrolments, the head start program and a new reporting system.

 The administration certainly played a role in making parents feel welcome.  With new men on the block, new and different approaches towards parental and community involvement arose.  In 1992, when the Williams Royal Commission Report on Education reported to government with recommendations for change, Random Island Academy was not negatively effected, since it was classified as a necessarily existing school.  The Commission also recommended that parents be given a meaningful role in the operation of schools and that school councils should be established in all schools to provide an avenue for parental participation.  The School Councils have brought the school, family and community together at Random Island Academy.  School improvement, now known as school development, has also had a positive effect in bringing all parties together.  All parties work together to achieve common goals.  Declining enrolments have reduced units and increased teachers' workloads.  Parents have alleviated the burden created by some of the time consuming tasks that needed to be done.  (The school resource centre has received a tremendous amount of work from parents.)  In the head start program, parents and their four-year-old children come to school one day a month.  At times, the parent stays in the classroom with the child and  at other times the school has sessions for parents.  Finally, the board's new K-3 reporting system brings parents, students and their teachers together to discuss their child's individual program.  This has benefits for everyone involved.
 

Parental Roles 

 Parents have been involved in many traditional/familiar roles at Random Island Academy.  Some of these include:  fund raisers, resource centre workers, coaches for teams, assistant for field trips, chaperones for overnight trips, drivers for teams and other kinds of helpers.  We will now  highlight some examples of parental roles that may be familiar in many schools in this province, though the parent(s) in Random Island Academy have gone beyond the call of duty in discharging these.

 The Cake Lady - As a parent representative on the School Spirit Action Team (a committee formed in the course of the school improvement process but still active even though the focus changed), a parent decided to bake a birthday cake for every student and teacher in the school.  In the first year, she baked a small cake for everyone.  This was apparently not enough,  so in the second year she added a small helium balloon and a small bag of candy.  The expense for all these items was met out of her own pocket.  This initiative has led to improved social relationships among students, teachers and parents.

 Breakfast Program - It was felt that some students were coming to school hungry for various reasons.  The principal found a parent who was interested in running the breakfast program.  This parent took the initiative to start this programme for any student in the school wanting to avail of the service.  He made three tables and a cart to be used for this program.  He also recruited parents who volunteered their time to serve the students in the morning.  Since there is only a small amount of funding available for this program, fund raising was also required, so he recruited parents to raise funds or seek donations from community groups/businesses to keep this program going.  He ended the first year of the program with over one thousand dollars in the bank.  The school and administration created this environment which has provided the opportunity for different people with different backgrounds to become leaders.  They brought the leadership role of parents into the school.

 Active Home and School - A very active home and school association came into being with a change in the administration.  This group had goals that required a large amount of fund-raising.  They reached their goal.  At one end of the school, they levelled a piece of land, fenced it and then installed  playground equipment for the primary and elementary students.  At the same time, they levelled another piece of land and then paved a basketball court for the high school students.  Since this time, they have continued fund-raising. Teachers were informed that if they had any needs/wants for resources to submit them in writing to the Home and School Association.  They have helped out various school programs, i.e., bought sashes for the school choir, purchased a volleyball net, provided resources for the challenging needs classroom, etc.  They are now discussing the possibility of preparing another piece of land for a soccer/softball field.  This resource based organisation is thus helping to create the culture at Random Island Academy.

 Teacher Appreciation Week - During this week, parents treat teachers to hot turkey dinners, pot lucks, and recess treats.  Another year, parents set up a tree in the front entrance and asked students to write something special about their teacher and place it on the tree.  These things certainly do  strengthen the family-school-community connection.  This is another great  initiative as all people need to feel appreciated.  This gives teachers a sense  of belonging, as well as reinforcing their efforts.

 School Facilities Action Team - This committee was formed from the school improvement process but still remained active even though the focus changed and is now known as school development.  This committee is made  up of parents, teachers and students.  One function of the group was to take ownership of the front lobby and hallways in the school.  This group brought the atmosphere of the home into the school by adding ideas about interior decorating.  It has engaged in such activities as painting lockers to co-ordinate colours, helping fund-raise to purchase a large oak display case for the main lobby, putting up wooden shelves and adding little trinkets, enlarging pictures of students and hanging in entrance and lobby, displaying seasonal bulletin boards, and purchasing plants for the entrance, lobby and display case. Creating a pleasant atmosphere can certainly affect people's attitudes.

 Provincial Tournament - Random Island Academy hosted the Boys' Provincial 'A' Volleyball Championships in December 1998.  This was a major undertaking for a small area.  However, with parental involvement the task became easier.  The parents took full responsibility for finding accommodation for all athletes.  In addition, they organized the banquet.  The recent reforms in Newfoundland education has stressed cutting programs and focusing more on the three R's.  However, the role of sport (the physical education program) in this community had a major impact.  It generated a tremendous amount of energy in the community and brought everyone together.

 Literacy Committee - A committee was formed in the school that included the principal, the special needs teachers and some parents.  This committee wanted to improve the literacy level of students and adults who lived on the island.  With funding from a variety of sources, a section known as the literacy centre was added to the school.  This centre contains thousands of  dollars worth of books, computers, and computer programs to which the school has access.  This facility is still functional today.  The example shows that when the school invites people in, it can help enrich the community.
 

 There has been an increasing interest in the father's interaction with children and its effects on their development.  In the past few years, several books and research articles on the father's roles and relationships have appeared (Minnesota Extension Service, 1992) and, in particular, the role of fathers as it relates to their children's education has been more closely examined in recent years.  While the father's role has been overlooked in research in the past, U.S. President Clinton asked all executive departments to include fathers in their programs, policies and research, where possible (U.S. Department of Education, 1997).

 One of the more prominent reports in this area is a study carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics in the United States.  Their October 1997 Survey, Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools, found that  children do better in school when their fathers are involved in their schools, regardless of whether their fathers live with them or their mothers are also involved (U.S. Department of Education, 1997).

 The national study garnered enough attention to have U.S. Vice- President Al Gore highlight it by commenting on it to the media.  He said:  "This study provides hard evidence about the powerful and positive influence that parents can have as full and equal partners when they make the commitment to help their children get a good education.  Fathers matter a great deal when  it comes to helping their children succeed in school and this study should  encourage millions of American fathers to step up to the plate and make a difference in their children's education" (U.S. Department of Education, 1997, p. 1).

 The study also found that if mothers got as involved as mothers in their children's education, children would be studying harder and getting a lot more A's.  Fathers make a powerful difference in defining expectation and  challenging children to do their best.  Overall, children in two-parent families where the father is highly involved get better grades, enjoy school more, and are less likely to repeat a grade, compared with those in which only mothers are highly involved (U.S. Department of Education, 1997).
 

Father's Involvement in School:  a Newfoundland Perspective

 There are many school programs in Newfoundland and Labrador that  could be examined for father's involvement and the impact it has on their children's education.  The authors have chosen some specific examples from  Newfoundland and Labrador to demonstrate how fathers' role in their children's education has increased, although only slightly.  They will also discuss the effects of the involvement on the child generally.
 

Parent Teacher Night 

 One of the authors observed At Bayview Regional Collegiate (grades 7-12) in St. Lunaire and Random Island Academy that, over the past three to five years, there has been an increase in the number of fathers who have attended parent-teacher night to discuss their children's academic progress.  While the increase in the number of fathers has only been small, the concerns of fathers over their children's education has seemed to be quite genuine.  Of the approximate 150 students at Bayview Regional Collegiate, roughly one third of their parents attended parent-teacher nights five to ten years ago - about one fifth, or 10 of these, were fathers.  Today, about 50 percent of the parents of children at this school attend parent-teacher night.  Thirty-five of these are fathers, who generally attend with their wives or partners.

 This example demonstrates that fathers feel an increased sense of responsibility for the education of their children, and seem for the most part to be concerned that their children improve academically and socially.  In the past, parents of children performing well academically have been the ones  who usually attended the parent-teacher night.  Recently, however, an  increase in the number of parents of struggling students has become evident, especially in the intermediate grades.
 

School Councils

 In 1992 The Williams Royal Commission Report recommended that  parents have a larger role in the management of their children's school.  In the revised Schools Act (1997) this recommendation was taken into consideration and school councils were mandated by law.  Parents along with community and school representatives were given positions on the school council.  It is anticipated that, since decision making is one of the responsibilities of the council, men (fathers) would play a more predominant role.

 Indeed, two-thirds and one-half of the school councils at Bayview Regional Collegiate and Random Island Academy, respectively, are males.  The principal, teacher and community representatives on the school council at Bayview Regional Collegiate consist entirely of parents, with five out of eight representatives being fathers.  At Random Island Academy the principal and teacher representatives are not parents of students at the school.  Of the parent and community representatives two out of five are fathers.  This seems to suggest that, at least in some areas, fathers' involvement is increasing.
Field Trips 

 Schools use field trips to enhance the curriculum.  All parents are provided the opportunity to volunteer their services when assistance is needed. More parent volunteers are needed at the primary and elementary levels.  At Random Island Academy mothers tend to be more involved when the trip entails greater distances, while fathers tend to become involved in trips within the local area where they are able to leave work for a short period of time to assist their child at the swimming pool or the stadium.  There seems to be, again, an increase in the fathers' involvement.
 

Homework

 Homework is an important aspect of a child's education in that it  reinforces the concepts taught at school.  The tendency for fathers more  responsibility for their children's education translates into their participation in the homework arena.  The authors have found that fathers have become more involved in assisting their children with nightly homework in the late 1990s as opposed to the early part of the decade and previous years.  This became evident when the authors noted the increase in the number of fathers' signatures attached to a variety of school and homework for validation purposes.  Formerly, the mother assisted in this area, as society deemed it to be her role.  However, with the changing role of both parents - and with more women entering the work force - the parent-homework role too has changed. Some mothers now work outside the home during evenings, whereas it is more likely that fathers work a 9-5 job and are available during the evenings to assist their children.
 

Fund-raising

 Many schools implement fund-raising initiatives throughout the school year in order to provide for more resources at school or to assist with costs for school trips.  Some of these initiatives require the assistance of parents.  More particularly, school bake sales, car washes or hot dog sales lend themselves to participation by parents.  In this area, there has not really been an increase in the fathers' involvement.  Mothers are known to bake cakes, prepare lunches for students and assist in other ways of fund-raising for the school.  Fathers' roles, on the other hand, are much reduced.

 At Bayview Regional Collegiate, for example, the school graduating class holds a fund-raiser each year to assist with graduation ceremonies. Mothers prepare hot meals for sale in the local community.  Much time and effort is spent on this task.  Fathers' roles are generally limited to delivery of the meals throughout the community.
 

Volunteers

 Parent volunteers are vital to the administration of academic and extra-curricular programs.  The authors have observed a noted difference in the roles of both fathers and mothers as volunteers within the school system.  Mothers appear to volunteer more directly within the school setting as readers in the resource centres or assisting in classroom activities with the teacher. Fathers, on the other hand, are more likely to volunteer as coaches with sports teams, or to lead discussion on careers during a school career day.  This is certainly true at the schools in St. Lunaire and Hickman's Harbour.

 Again, when schools like the one at St. Lunaire plan variety nights, it is mostly fathers who participate in "lip syncs", skits and other demonstrations of local talent outside the classroom.
 

How Can Schools Assist Fathers in Becoming More Involved in Education?

 There are many ways in which schools can help fathers become more involved in their children's education.  This is a challenge that the schools, school boards and departments of education must focus on.  If, as the U.S. study indicates, fathers' involvement does affect students positively, then all schools should move forward on the following suggestions:

1. The school needs to be flexible in looking for parent volunteers.  Currently, many schools only search for volunteers during the beginning of a school year.  If this is the time of year when fathers are busy, or not at home due to work, then schools limit themselves to the number of fathers they are able to attract.  Perhaps schools should contact fathers and mothers three or four times through the year in a proactive fashion so as to attract as many fathers as mothers.

2. Regarding parent-teacher interviews, the issue of flexibility is raised  again.  Teachers and administrators must be willing to meet with parents during any time of the weekday or weekend.

3. Schools need to demonstrate to fathers that their assistance is  invaluable.  For many years, because mothers have been mostly  involved in the school, fathers find it difficult to break through.  Teachers, principals and others must tell fathers that their assistance is needed and appreciated.

4. Literature pertaining to the benefits of fathers assisting with their  children's education should be distributed by educators through mailings to the home or as part of school-community newsletters.  This would most likely lead to more fathers becoming involved.

5. While the authors have not offered detailed discussion on non-resident fathers, it is nevertheless important that schools keep the lines of communication open with fathers who are not living with their children, keeping in mind court orders which may be imposed.

6. The literature shows that most parental involvement occurs when children are in primary and elementary school for both mothers and fathers. Schools must continue to emphasize to parents the value of their involvement, even at the high school level.  Although mothers' education levels have significantly increased in recent years, fathers in urban centres most likely still maintain the highest level of academic  achievement.  Therefore, the fathers should become more involved in assisting high school aged children with homework and the more academic activities.

Father's Involvement - The Effect on the Child 

 When fathers become more involved in their children's school work and school activities, children feel better about themselves.  According to the  U.S. study, "the involvement of fathers, as well as mothers, in their children's  schools is important for children's achievement and behaviour" (p. 77).  "In  father-only families, fathers' involvement increased the likelihood that their children get mostly A's and reduces the likelihood that their children have ever been suspended or expelled" (p. 77-78).

 Also, families with high parental involvement in their children's schools are "more likely to visit a library, museum or historical site with their children and are more likely to have high educational expectations for their children"  (U.S. Department of Education, 1997).
 

 The book Everybody's House - The Schoolhouse (1997) by Carolyn Warner with Marilyn Curry provides the inspiration for this section of the paper.  Chapter 8, "Unreachable Parents - Reachable Children," contains a section called the "Parent From Hell".  As a principal one of the authors have encountered several of these so-called "parents from hell".  These individuals can become a thorn in the flesh of both teachers and administrators of a school.

 Encounters with "parents from hell" can be very unnerving.  They have their own version of a situation and they refuse to listen to reason.  Many times  they become irrate and can be boisterous if challenged.  Also, they will go to any means to prove their point.  If unsuccessful they can become a menace to the school.

 One particular incident occurred in the school where one of us was and is at present the principal.  During recess a teacher came to the principal's office to advise him that he had told one of the Level II students to remove his outside coat and take it to his locker.  This student reluctantly did so.  Other students said that another student was in class with his outside coat on.  The  teacher asked if it was an outside coat and he said, "No, it's just a heavy shirt". Upon further questioning the teacher discovered that this piece of clothing was worn over a T-shirt and was the only item worn outside when the student travelled to and from school.  The teacher then told him to remove it and put it in his locker.  He very reluctantly complied.  The teacher advised the principal that he believed this would not be the last they would hear about this incident.  Just after the bell rang for the end of recess, indeed, the parent of the second student arrived at the principal's office complaining that teachers were picking on his son.  He was absolutely furious that a teacher would ask his son to remove his outside coat, insisting that it was not a coat but a shirt.  After arguing for about ten minutes about the particulars of the incident and the stupid rules the school had, he left.  At noon the principal returned to his home for lunch.

 On returning to school, the principal met the same parent outside his office waving a page from the Sears catalogue which contained the item of clothing in question.  He argued that even Sears called it a shirt.  Since he was still mad and very unreasonable the principal took the page and informed him that he would look into it further.  During the afternoon, the principal pondered over this situation and decided that he had better call the school district office to advise them of this incident in case this parent complained to them.  After completing the last afternoon class the principal returned to his office only to discover the mother of the first student involved in the outside coat incident awaiting his arrival.  He invited her into his office and she let go at him verbally.  Unable to speak to her, let alone reason with her, the principal sat back and listened.  After about fifteen minutes she finally gave up and left without considering the position of the teacher.  The principal then decided to call district office immediately.  He spoke to the assistant director who advised him that he had just finished speaking with the parent of the second student involved in the incident.  He could not understand why this parent was pursuing this issue and supported the stand the school was taking.  He indicated that he would call the parent and advise him that he supported the school's decision.

 This incident illustrates how unreasonable parents can be when they become upset.  There is no way to come to a mutual understanding and all an administrator can do is to listen and stand firm regarding their decisions.  To try to push one's views will only inflame the situation because a so called "parent from hell" will not view the situation objectively.  Often, they will not support the school no matter how hard the latter tries to resolve the situation.  They feel that protecting their child is their number one priority.  In the case cited above, the parent of the second child was inclined to be highly protective because the student had recently been diagnosed with diabetes.  But this is not a sufficient reason to act the way he did.

 As teachers and administrators we must realize that certain situations do occur and that we may be helpless to resolve them.  We must not let them dampen our enthusiasm for our profession but look to the supportive parents for our energy.  "Parents from hell" will always be with us but we must act as professionals and go about our business of educating children undaunted.
 

 Random Island Academy has definitely been successful at building and maintaining positive, meaningful relations with their parents and communities.  This has taken time.  It appears that the school, students and teachers have all benefitted from parental involvement.  The educators at Random Island Academy now know if they want to get and keep parents on their team they must provide an opportunity for meaningful, purposeful involvement.  We  would encourage other schools to do the same.  Remember, "they're out there, you need 'em, now go get 'em" (Warner, 1997).

 One of the interesting points noted by the authors is the effect the seasonal nature of work in Newfoundland and Labrador has on the fathers' availability to assist with their children - not only from an educational perspective, but from a full family perspective.  Work in the fishing, logging and construction industry, for example, sees most males away for extended periods of time during various points throughout a year.  During these times, it is the mother who provides almost all support to the children.  A noted increase in fathers' spending time with their children occurs when the males are at home.

 The depth of fathers' involvement in school helps to strengthen the school-community-family relationship in diverse ways.  The authors  recommend further research to compare the provincial differences in fathers' involvement with their children.  Perhaps the Canadian Government could  undertake a survey to expand on the one carried out by the Department of Education in the US.  It is not easy to build school-family-relationships since there are many obstacles to overcome, but the potential benefits certainly  make the effort worthwhile. 

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 Geertz, C. (1983).  Local Knowledge.  New York:  Basic Books.

 Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (1997).  Schools Act, 1997.  Queen's Printer:  St. John's.

 Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (1992).  The Williams Royal  Commission Report.  Queen's Printer:  St. John's.

 Greene, J.P. (1999).  Between Damnation and Starvation:  Priest and Merchants in Newfoundland Politics, 1745-1855.  Montreal & Kingston:  McGill - Queen's University Press.

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 Minnesota Extension Service (1992).  Research on father involvement.  (http://users/uconz.co.nz/stokem/fare/fathinv.html)

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 Singh, A., et. al. (1999).  Some observations on School-Community-Family Relations in Selected Schools in Newfoundland.  The Morning Watch, pp. 1-9, (http://www.mun.ca/edu/faculty/mwatch/win99/singhetal.htm)

 Smyth, J. (1989).  A critical pedagogy of classroom practice.  Journal of Curriculum Studies, 21(6), 483-502.

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 U.S. Department of Education (1997).  National study links fathers'  involvement to children getting A's in school.  (http://www.ed.gov.PressReleases/10-1997/father.html)

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