Theory in action: Applying ecological psychology in school-family relations

Zapri, D (Dimitra)
Greek Ministry of Education, Zurich

 

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Bouillonzaal, 25-09-2019, 15:45 - 17:15

Keywords

early childhood, active learning, communication, parents, Gibson's affordances, Bronfenbrenner's mesosystem, school community

Summary

Psychological theory, when critically studied and deployed, may provide a powerful tool for school teachers, who are particularly challenged as first responders by various complex and difficult situations, especially in the absence of a psychology expert in the school community. This paper purports to explain specifically how key concepts of ecological psychology, such as Bronfenbrenner’s mesosystem and Gibson’s affordances, have been systematically implemented in Greek disadvantaged, multicultural and diasporic early childhood education settings, in order to establish consistent and flexible patterns of communication with pupils’ parents. Those “significant others” form a highly heterogeneous part of the school community, which is inevitably open to misunderstandings or conflicts of interest, due to diverse life courses, socio-cultural backgrounds and nurturing practices. In this respect, the paper ultimately illustrates how school teachers, who consciously endorse their role as lifelong active learners themselves, may proactively support the development of healthy family-school relations, while substantialising their practices with empirical and theoretical evidence alike.

 

 

Auteurs