Evaluation of the opinions of boarding district secondary school students and teachers on school-family communication

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the opinions of boarding district secondary school students and teachers on school-family communication. The study was carried out according to the phenomenology of the qualitative research method. The participants consisted of six students and three teachers. Students were from the different family structure, gender and academic achievement level. Students also studied in different classes of the boarding district secondary school in a district of central anatolia region in the spring term of 2018-2019. On the other hand, teachers were from the different disciplines, age levels and family communication. Semi-structured interview was employed as data collection tool. The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed with descriptive and content analysis. In the study, it was understood that students and teachers perceived school-family communication as supporting students' education and teaching activities. The most cited sources of communication by students and teachers; telephone conversation, parent meeting, family visit and telephone message. In the study, it was determined that the students are willing to communicate and they communicate about academic achievement. Teachers, on the other hand, were found to communicate with students' academic achievement as well as student problems and financial issues. In addition, it was concluded that the teachers wanted to communicate about academic success, social activities and home life. The common opinions of both participating groups regarding the problems in family-school communication; distance, suitable meeting time, family apathy and economic conditions. Participants suggested carrying out family visits, organizing social events, increasing the parents' interest and using different communication sources as a solution proposal. Based on the findings and limitations of the research, suggestions were made to increase the school-family communication.