Summary in English
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the field of education, its development, and the impact on other spheres of life are important topics for discussion. During the last decade, the UAE education has undergone considerable changes and improvements, and it is necessary to understand if students and teachers can benefit from new offers or new suggestions are required. The current research project aims at discussing the importance of the establishment of educational partnerships between teachers, students, and parents.
Educational partnerships turn out to be a considerable contribution to educational management and leadership in many countries. Some teachers find it necessary to develop such types of professional relationships regularly. Several educational leaders are not able to achieve positive results in teacher-student-parent relationships. The reasons for such failures may vary from one academic institution to another. Among the existing variety of factors and requirements of educational management and leadership, this study is focused on two important aspects, motivation and communication.
In this research, Sharjah schools are chosen as a community for analysis. Teachers and students of these schools are invited to participate in interviews and questionnaires. After students give their agreements for their participation, their parents are also asked to ask several questions. Such a variety of data sources helps to gather enough material and discuss the concepts of leadership, motivation, and communication in schools. There are 40 participants of the study, including 10 Sharjah school teachers, 20 Arab students, and 10 parents of students. The review of the literature, as well as qualitative and quantitative information, is used to explain the relationship that exists between motivation, communication, a partnership that can be established between teachers, students, and parents.
The results of the investigation show that not all parents are eager to be involved in their children’s academic activities. It is hard for teachers to communicate with parents who are usually busy with their personal lives and professional responsibilities. As a result, students think that their teachers do not possess enough qualities, skills, and knowledge to promote successful academic performance and support students in a variety of their intentions.
The skills theory is chosen as the main theoretical framework for the discussion of motivation and communication as the main contributors to educational partnership promotion. It helps to understand that teachers may use different opportunities and develop the required skills or use their born abilities and demonstrate how good they can perform their functions of educational leaders. The recommendations to extend this research are given with a necessity to discover new factors that may challenge or help teachers when they decide to develop student-parent-teacher relationships and partnerships.
Introduction
During the last decade, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) developed several important educational reforms and approved a strong educational system in terms of which it is possible to enhance the ability of the country to compete and introduce good professionals in different fields (Zahran 2016). The field of education has always played a significant role in the UAE development, and the investigation of such aspects as educational management, leadership, and models. It is not enough to achieve excellence in student skills, curriculums, and courses. It is necessary to make sure that a plan of academic enhancement is properly delivered to parents, teachers, and other administrative workers (Langton 2017).
Therefore, the establishment of a partnership between such groups of people as students, teachers, and parents should be an obligatory step in educational management. In this study, attention to such factors as motivation and communication will be paid to clarify if they may influence the development of effective partnerships between different stakeholders in a learning process.
Problem
In this research project, the peculiar features of educational management and leadership will be discussed to identify and solve problems educational leaders may be challenged with. Dina (2013) states that educational leadership is a complex issue characterized by the presence of certain duties, responsibilities, demands, and expectations. Sharjah schools have to recognize the main steps in educational management to promote effective and supportive leadership for students and their families. In the UAE, the education system undergoes considerable changes regularly, and teachers should be ready to improve their activities regarding new norms.
The problem is that not all teachers understand how to cooperate with students and engage parents in a learning process regarding different administrative expectations. For example, Nappi (2014) focuses on the building of social capital through shared leadership, and Ali (2014) is interested in the promotion of a professional principle within schools. In Sharjah schools, any partnership has to be properly developed, and motivation, as well as communication, may be defined as the main opportunities for teachers in educational leadership.
Significance
In addition to the fact that education is one of the most significant fields that have to be developed in the UAE, the improvement of educational management is a unique chance to understand what kind of work has to be done, when it is necessary to stop, and what conclusions should be made. The significance of this study is the possibility to investigate the relations between motivation and communication in a learning process and their impact on an educational partnership that may be developed between teachers, parents, and students.
On the one hand, it is interesting to investigate the field of educational leadership and clarify if power-sharing boundaries and responsibilities may promote successful transformations in a learning process (Valli et al 2014). On the other hand, educational leadership, as well as management is closely connected to such abilities as motivation and communication, and it is important to evaluate their possible impact on teachers, students, and parents as direct participants of a learning process.
Purpose and Research Questions
The main purpose of the study is to identify the opportunities and challenges Sharjah teachers, who are also defined as educational leaders, may face in a learning process and partnership and discuss them in terms of motivation and communication. To achieve such an important purpose, it is suggested to break it into several objectives which may be formulated in the following research questions:
- What is the essence of educational leadership?
- What is the place of motivation in educational leadership?
- Why is communication important in the field of educational leadership?
- What are the main challenges and opportunities educational leaders have to face while cooperating with students and parents?
- What does a partnership mean in an academic field and Sharjah schools, in particular?
- What is the relation between the terms “motivation”, “communication”, and “partnership” in terms of educational leadership and management?
Definitions
The terms used in this study may be defined in different ways. It is not necessary to mention all options and variations. In this project, the following definitions should be followed to achieve the main goal and answer the offered research questions:
A teacher is a person who works at school, acquires and share knowledge, and promotes academic development.
A student is a person a learner who attends school, cooperates with a teacher, and uses their skills to achieve certain academic goals.
A parent is a caregiver who participates in the moral and academic development and growth of a student.
Educational leadership is a process that involves teachers in guiding students, cooperating with parents, and following the established norms and standards in schools.
Motivation is the ability of teachers to find out the reasons for taking actions, making decisions, and achieving goals in a learning process.
Communication is an act of conversation that occurs between teachers, students, and parents during which information is transferred, the experience is shared, and opinions are exchanged.
A partnership is an arrangement of the relationships that may be developed between teachers, students, and parents using appropriate motivation and communication in a learning process.
Theoretical Background
Educational leadership is a serious academic process that involves different types of work with teachers, students, parents, and other educational experts to improve the existing educational programs and outcomes and create appropriate conditions for learning and working. All teachers, regardless of their age, experience, and knowledge, may feel lost as soon as they face the necessity to adjust to new roles, rules, and expectations (Ali 2014).
Therefore, educational management and leadership need to develop appropriate conceptual and theoretical frameworks and understand the essence of each idea. In this research project, several important concepts have to be defined, explained, and supported in terms of the chosen theories and approaches.
Conceptual Framework
Educational leadership
In many countries, education is defined as a significant condition in terms of which people may be provided with new perspectives and changes to stay competitive. Educational leadership turns out to be an important concept that defines the duties and responsibilities of leaders and aims at improving school management, students’ achievements, and teachers’ satisfaction (Dina 2013). All administration members have to be properly chosen.
Leadership values
In school management, the identification of leadership values, including respect, courage, wisdom, humility, and services, play an important role. Teachers as leaders have to understand their roles and interact with students, as well as with their peers to demonstrate informative and educative discussions in the classroom and their abilities to solve problems and assist students (Ellis et al 2017). Ethical behavior also matters.
Educational management
In every institution, there is a group of academic experts, principles, and teachers who aim at discussing various academic programs, developing guidelines, and observing the achievements of all organizational inhabitants. Educational management is the way of how the work of teachers is organized in a school.
Motivation
In any learning process, motivation is a concept that determines the level of how hard an individual can do something (Andersen et al 2014). Motivation helps to understand if it is necessary to take a step and what basics are required.
Communication
Communication is one of the barriers that may challenge teachers, students, and their families during a learning process (Hubbard 2016). This process should be properly organized and promote a friendly atmosphere at the same time.
Educational partnership
Nowadays, any educational partnership becomes an important and effective initiative to support student learning, strengthen schools and communities, and improve the work of teachers (Valli et al 2014). The promotion of an effective partnership is a driver every school may need.
Theoretical Framework
Many theories can be used to support the discussion of motivation and communication in educational leadership (Levers 2013). The work of leaders (in this case, they are Sharjah teachers) may be evaluated through instructional leadership theories or “great man” theories where the role of leaders is underlined and explained as a significant factor in a learning process. However, in this paper, the task is to explain how such variables as motivation and communication may influence any educational partnership in terms of a learning process.
Therefore, the decision to use the skills theory of leadership is made. The attention will be paid to the importance of learned knowledge and acquired skills which may promote effective leadership (Amanchukwu et al 2015). In terms of this theory, educational leadership demonstrated by Sharjah teachers should be investigated to understand if there is a connection between inherited skills and the capacities obtained through different practices. Professional training and development are the requirements that determine the quality of motivation and communication in an academic partnership.
Literature Review
Importance of educational management and leadership
Nowadays, the field of education undergoes considerable changes and improvements, including globalization, modernization, technological progress, and academic expectations (Spring 2014). In the United Arab Emirates, new common education systems have been already offered to improve the existing standards and produce better results (Langton 2017; Zahran et al 2016).
Such a system should introduce appropriate conditions for new developments and the creation of a supportive environment for students and their families. Educational management has to be changed, and educational leaders should be prepared for all types of innovations. According to Klenowski & Wyatt-Smith (2013), educational leaders must establish a new quality assessment culture within their schools so that it may be possible to share experience and make necessary corrections.
Educational leadership becomes the field where teachers use their knowledge and promote a significant cultural shift from the already offered isolated and individual practices to collaborative perspectives in terms of which all participants can share their demands, expectations, and abilities (Stephenson et al 2012). Regarding such changes, management and leadership in education have to be properly established in the UAE schools to make sure that students and teachers are properly motivated and supported.
Power of motivation
A learning process may be challenged and improved in many different ways, and the lack of shared motivation is one of the factors that cannot be neglected (Stephenson et al 2012; Warner & Burton n.d.). In many UAE schools, leaders like to initiate debates which help to develop critical thinking and learning approaches, as well as to prepare students for new tasks and requirements (Vuuren & Sayed 2017; Young & Crow 2016). Northouse (2015) defines motivation as one of the main attributes in the skills model that may affect and be affected by leadership.
Role of communication
Educational leaders have to promote regular communication and consultation within curriculums (Avizhgan et al 2015). The art of communication is the necessity to not only speak and make other people reply in return, but also listen, understand, and support teamwork effectiveness (Benoliel & Somech 2015; Lyness et al 2013). Being leaders, teachers should support the development of these skills among students and improve their communication to discuss all-important learning aspects with students and their parents because any partnership depends on communication a lot.
Partnership in a learning process
The themes of leadership, motivation, and communication in a learning process have been discussed by many researchers (Hallinger 2014; Hallinger & Hammad 2017; Hammad & Hallinger 2017). Litz (2014) suggests paying attention to private-public and school-community partnerships that support the development of student skills, abilities, and knowledge.
The educational sector needs new partnership requirements and opportunities because it is a unique chance to develop responsibilities, evaluations, and equality between all participants and stakeholders in a learning process (Klenowski & Wyatt-Smith 2013; Lussier & Achua 2015; Onorato 2013). Today, partnerships may have different forms, but the connection developed between teachers, students, and their parents remain to be the most integral and influential types of educational relationships.
Methodology
Methods
The choice of research methods and philosophies was an important step to be taken in this project. Constructivism was chosen as the main philosophical paradigm that was based on gathering qualitative information to understand the topic through the development of subjective meanings and working experiences (Creswell 2014). In terms of this paradigm and the impossibility to stay objective, it was decided to identify several realities (teachers, students, and parents) and discuss the worth of educational leadership in a classroom.
Ethnography was the research approach with the help of which it was possible to describe and interpret the cultural behavior of the chosen community (Dawson 2009). Sharjah teachers had to cooperate with different people, and this research was based on cooperation with such teachers to understand the nature of their work and the role of motivation and communication in such activities as leadership and partnership.
A mixed research method was used in this study. On the one hand, it was necessary to gather enough qualitative data to clarify the essence of the offered terms. Qualitative methods help to explain the choice of a view within a field and prove its problematic nature (Holliday 2016). However, the effects of the qualitative research results may be improved in case it is supported by quantitative research. Therefore, quantitative methods had to be implemented in this study.
Mixed methods were used because of the necessity to answer several research questions and obtain the results to prove the relations between two different variables within one particular process that could have different forms (Silverman 2015). Though the whole picture of educational leadership could hardly be revealed through motivation and communication only, there was an opportunity to create a solid background for further investigations.
Design
A research design is a strategy that is appropriate for a certain kind of work, regarding its title, purpose, objectives, and expected outcomes. An exploratory design was used in this research due to the necessity to investigate a certain research problem that had not been properly discussed in earlier studies. The focus of this design was to gain the required insights of educational management and leadership for a future investigation of these aspects within particular Sharjah schools.
The peculiar feature of the offered design was the possibility to establish an understanding of how motivation and communication could be used to succeed in educational partnerships that had to be developed between students, parents, and teachers. In this particular case, an important issue was the recognition of teachers as main educational leaders in a learning process. They have to be properly motivated, as well as to know how to motivate students and parents to become active participants in schools.
They have to communicate, as well as to make sure that other stakeholders can communicate and share their thoughts. The exploratory research design helped to give several necessary details about the existing concepts and develop an understanding of new concepts within the chosen Sharjah schools. This design was properly supported and improved using the offered mixed research method based on a constructivist philosophical paradigm.
Sample
In mixed research, sampling is a process that has to be based on probability and non-probability. On the one hand, the task was to cooperate with a particular group of people, teachers, students, and parents, chosen from a particular school. On the other hand, a random sample within a group was required to make sure that different students and parents could be involved in discussions, share their opinions about teachers and the existing education systems, and make their contributions to specific classroom improvements.
Taking into consideration such requirements and expectations, a stratified sample was chosen, including the choice of a definite population (the inhabitants of one of the Sharjah schools), the identification of several groups (teachers, students, and parents), and the necessity to obtain a simple random sample (10 Sharjah teachers, 20 Arab students from the Sharjah school, and 10 parents). In general, the sample of the research project was 40 participants who were of different ages and both genders and connected with the Sharjah school.
In every Sharjah schools, about 500-1000 students get their education annually, and more than 100 people comprise academic staff. There was no need to involve as many participants as possible in this study because the task was to understand if motivation and communication could be the influential factors in an educational partnership developed between teachers, parents, and students. Therefore, 20 adult participants, who were aged 30 or more years, and 20 younger adults, who were aged under 25 years, were chosen.
Instrumentation
Research instrumentation includes all tools that have to be used in an investigation, including variables, methods, and ethical considerations, and analytical tools. In this project, two types of interviews were developed as a part of a qualitative research approach, and one questionnaire was chosen as a qualitative data collection technique. Before any step was taken, a school administration had been informed about the importance of the study, and a letter with the goals and process details had been sent to the school for approval.
First, ten Sharjah teachers were invited to participate in the study. The details of an interview were described. Every interview was conducted in the classroom when a teacher was free from class activities and students. It did not take much time (about 30-45 minutes) to answer all five questions and discuss all the important concepts of the study (Appendix A). All interviews were taped, and the participants were informed about this requirement.
They gave their written permissions for their responses to be audio-recorded. Then, all interviews were listened to several times to be transcribed and translated into English. A thematic analysis was performed manually by a researcher. The main keywords were underlined to be used in the discussion section.
Second, 20 students were invited to participate in the study using completing a short questionnaire that consisted of ten questions. As soon as students agreed to answer the questions, there were informed about the nature of research, expected outcomes, and the necessity to give clear and true answers. There were ten different statements in a questionnaire form, and students had to reply if they were ready to “Agree” or “More Agree than Disagree”, “Neither Agree nor Disagree”, and “More Disagree than Agree” or “Disagree” (Appendix B). Anonymity and confidentiality were provided so that all students’ names were replaced by the letters A, B, C, etc.
Finally, there were ten interviews with parents. Not all parents of the students who had participated in the questionnaires agreed to be interviewed. After brief talks and explanations, only ten parents gave their permission for interviews. It was decided to organize these meetings via Skype (audio calls). Each parent was interviewed separately and informed about the necessity to record their answers. Five questions were posed (Appendix C).
All ten participants agreed on such conditions. The analysis of the interviews with parents was organized the same way the analysis of the interviews with teachers was. A properly developed thematic analysis allowed identifying common themes and important concepts for the discussion of educational partnerships using motivation and communication between Sharjah teachers, students, and their parents.
Results, Analysis and Discussion
In this research project, there were two types of information for analysis, qualitative and quantitative. Interviews with parents and teachers helped to understand the level of their readiness to cooperate to improve the level of student performance and achievements. A questionnaire that was offered to students showed that, in Sharjah schools, not all students recognized and understood the worth of communication, motivation, and an educational partnership thoroughly.
Though these terms and concepts were familiar to the majority of the participants, parents did not want to accept the obligation to support their children’s academic development thinking that it was a teachers’ task, students were not informed about the importance of partnerships, and teachers were not provided with enough resources and rights to promote partnerships.
Qualitative Data Analysis
The replies of 10 Sharjah teachers and 10 parents of Arab students were gathered and analyzed in this study to clarify what the participants thought about an educational partnership. 70% of teachers proved that they continued making their attempts to promote various partnerships between students and their parents to achieve certain progress in a learning process. Such teachers’ replies as “unfortunately, not all students, as well as their parents, like to communicate”, “how to make all participants believe in the necessity of such relations”, or “motivation may change the situation” proved the positions developed by Nappi (2014) or Hubbard (2016) who offered to use teachers as educational leaders to eliminate barriers to family involvement and use effective motivation.
Still, 20% of teachers have successfully used communication and motivation to involve parents in various academic activities stating that “parents have to know that even their small participation may provide a student with a correct direction”. There are also 10% of teachers who did not use partnerships in the classroom because they had “other interesting and effective strategies”.
Parents were divided into two groups: those who were eager to cooperate with teachers and those who were not ready for such a partnership. A lack of time, the necessity to have more information, and the recognition of personal goals were the main reasons for why an effective partnership could not be developed between parents and teachers, and why a poor connection between students and parents was observed in the education field (Hammad & Hallinger 2017).
However, regardless of the evident shortages in communication between teachers and parents, enough information was gathered to prove that communication and motivation played an important role in a learning process and could be used to establish appropriate professional relations between students, parents, and teachers. The importance of the chosen concepts in education was defined using the interview answers of teachers and parents (Figure 1).
Another significant contribution achieved as a result of the interviews with parents and teachers was the possibility to compare the effects of such variables as communication and motivation of the establishment of partnerships between different participants of a learning process in Sharjah schools (Figure 2).
The analysis of qualitative data showed that it was possible to establish an educational partnership between teachers, parents, and students. Educational leadership was one of the main skills to be developed in such types of relationships because teachers had to guide both students and parents, give explanations, and offer support. Comparing the importance of communication and motivation, communication turned out to be less important than motivation, meaning that it was necessary to motivate students and parents before promoting communication.
Quantitative Data Analysis
A questionnaire with 20 students of Sharjah schools was used to identify what students knew about educational partnerships, how they defined the level of work of their teachers in the classroom, and what they thought about the role of their parents in their learning. Motivation and communication were recognized by students as the two important concepts in education. However, regarding the attention paid by parents to these concepts and the work done by teachers, not all students understood the importance of partnerships in education.
Four out of 20 students gave them “Neither Agree nor Disagree” replies to the statement about communication importance. However, 95% positive replies were given to the statement about the necessity to motivate students in education, meaning that students expected to be motivated by their teachers, as well as by their parents.
Quantitative data also proved that students did not recognize any significant shifts in terms of teacher-student-parent communication after a new educational system had been offered (Table 1). 80% of students thought that teachers’ knowledge and experience were not enough to support productive communication.
In general, according to the students’ points of view, motivation had to be defined as a serious contribution to any learning process. Students could be motivated by parents and teachers and achieve positive results in their education. Leadership and management were the obligations of teachers, and parents had to understand that their roles were also important for their children.
Conclusions
Discussions
The purpose of this research project was to identify what opportunities or challenges Sharjah teachers could face during a learning process and in their intentions to establish partnerships with students and parents. Motivation and communication were defined as the two main variables in this research. Also, it was suggested to consider Sharjah school teachers as educational leaders with their duties and responsibilities.
The interviews with parents and teachers, a questionnaire offered to several students, and the review of the literature helped to clarify that educational leadership might influence student learning, but certain challenges and obstacles had to be taken into consideration (Dina 2013). Motivation and communication, as well as an assessment of the work done and properly development relationships with parents, could help to improve an educational partnership and be used for student success, teacher satisfaction, and parent approval.
The motivation was defined as an important ability that had to be gained by teachers in their work with students and parents. Regarding the chosen skills theory as the main framework of the study, it was possible to conclude that Sharjah teachers needed specific resources, training, and development due to the lack of experience and practice in the chosen field (Amanchukwu et al 2015).
Communication was another important ability in educational leadership and partnerships. However, parents did not demonstrate the expected interest in the development of such relations with teachers. Parents believed that teachers had to develop their skills and use their knowledge to succeed in their children’s academic growth due to the responsibilities and duties posted on them according to a new education system (Langton 2017; Warner & Burton n.d.).
Taking into consideration all conclusions and evaluations made after the interviews and questionnaires, it was possible to say that Sharjah teachers were challenged by some kind of disregard demonstrated by parents and the lack of training which had to be focused on teachers’ motivation, support, and provision of appropriate resources. Therefore, an educational partnership could be developed in Sharjah schools in case teachers paid more attention to such aspects as the motivation of students and parents and the provision of necessary information and explanations.
The connection between such concepts as motivation, communication, leadership, and a partnership was proved as possible and even obligatory for teachers and students. The main task was to understand why parents did not want to participate in the learning activities of their children. Communication with parents helped to realize that parents were bothered with their tasks and responsibilities believing that teachers had enough material and opportunities to promote students’ success.
Limitations
In this study, the decision to use an interview and a questionnaire as the main research methods were made. Therefore, the small sample size, including 40 participants only, was defined as the main limitation of the work. The goal was to identify the challenges and opportunities for Sharjah teachers in their intentions to develop effective partnerships through motivation and communication. The opinions of several parents, teachers, and students could be used as a possible resource of information. Still, it should not be defined as enough to make conclusions.
Another important limitation was the decision to focus on two variables only without any possibility to recognize other significant details of a learning process. It was proved that the lack of time, training, and interests could also prevent the establishment of effective partnerships in schools. Dina (2015) and Litz (2014) introduced interesting approaches to investigate what could challenge teachers and parents in their cooperation with students. This study offered a strong perceptive with a limited number of variables.
Implications for Practice
The main conclusion of this work was that teachers had to recognize the importance of partnerships in their schools and use motivation and communication as the possible means to establish proper relationships with students and parents. Such a decision could have several significant implications for practice. First, this study may be a useful source of information for teachers regardless of their geographical location. Teachers may read the opinions of different parents and conclude that poor academic performance should not be defined as a teacher’s mistake solely. In many cases, parental neglect is a challenge for students, as well as for teachers. This study could be used as strong evidence of this problem that has to be solved in many educational facilities.
Another possible practical implication is connected with future researchers and possible stakeholders of a learning process. The study contains several solutions for teachers on how to establish contact with students and their parents and how to convince parents to be involved in the academic lives of their children. The definitions are given to such concepts as educational leadership or an educational partnership help to understand the nature of educational management every teacher has to be involved in. It is normal for parents not to be aware of something or not to be eager to participate in something, and the task of a teacher is to recognize such shortage and think about the ways of how to improve the situation, increase parental involvement, and support students.
Recommendations for Future Area of Research
This research project introduced a clear picture of how a learning process may be challenged by weakly motivated students or teachers and poorly informed and involved parents. It is recommended to enhance future efforts at investigating educational management in Sharjah schools. Though a new system has been already established, it does not lead to evident positive results only. There are many problematic areas and challenges.
It is recommended to extend this research from the two already established variables to new aspects of a learning process, for example, teacher or student satisfaction, parental employment, or family income. Another recommendation is based on the sample size. It is possible to extend the investigation from Sharjah schools to a broader academic set, including the schools of other Emirates or even other countries. Such approaches can help to evaluate educational management from different perspectives and improve the already offered systems and norms.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Interview with a Teacher
Researcher (R.): What do you think about the level of attention that is usually paid to such concept as educational leadership in your school?
Teacher (T.): In fact, when I transferred to this school, I was pleasantly impressed by the quality of teaching and educational management in this school. It was not enough for an ordinary teacher to know that educational management was important. It was obligatory to demonstrate the best qualities of leaders to support students, involve parents, and provide colleagues with all necessary explanations and experiences.
R.: Do you believe that motivation is necessary for educational leaders?
T.: I really do. It is hard to work without motivation. I should also know how to motivate students and recognise their needs through motivation, meaning that I have to choose appropriate questions, introduce interesting goals and methods of education, and never forget about the primary goals students and their parents establish when they come to school.
R.: Does communication play a vital role in education?
T.: Unfortunately, not all students, as well as their parents, like to communicate. They prefer to take and complete tasks, follow the instructions, and analyse feedback. I want to see productive communication as one of the norms in any Sharjah school.
R.: Have you ever used partnership in a learning process?
T.: My goal is to support a partnership in the classroom. I want to make students believe that the more they are involved in different shared activities, the better their academic results can be. The role of parents in student education should never be neglected, and our partnership may define the quality of the whole learning process.
R.: Can motivation and communication promote effective partnership in education?
T.: I want to believe that the connection between motivation and communication may help to establish appropriate partnerships between teachers, students, and parents. The only problem is to understand how to make all participants believe in the necessity of such relations and the development of these particular skills.
Appendix B: Questionnaire for a Student
Appendix C: Interview with a Parent
Researcher (R.): Do you think communication between parents and teachers can help students achieve better results in their education?
Parent (P.): I think that teachers should have enough knowledge and experience to promote student growth and development without parental assistance because it is their job. Parents may participate in a learning process in case they have enough time and desire and understand that their help may be essential for their children at home, but never in the classroom.
R.: Do you find educational leadership effective in the school?
P.: As far as I follow my child progress and achievements, I believe that teachers do their job in a right way. They give clear tasks, make assessments, and leave feedback to understand what kind of work may be done again.
R.: Are you satisfied with a new education system offered to Sharjah schools?
P.: If I can see that students are satisfied with the level of knowledge offered and aware of how to use their skills in practice, I am ready to give positive evaluations to this system. Still, I think that more time should be given and more assessments should be made to understand a true worth of such changes.
R.: Is motivation of students a task for parents or teachers?
T.: I do consider motivation as a strong indicator of the quality of student work. Students can hardly work properly without motivation. As for the source of motivation, it is impossible to give one definite question. Therefore, my answer is that both parents and teachers have to motivate students in different spheres. Parents may be responsible for some kind of emotional and moral motivation, and teachers should focus on motivation to study, meet deadlines, and follow different instructions.
R.: Are you ready to establish an educational partnership with your child and a teacher to achieve better academic results?
T.: At this moment, I do not have enough time to be involved in such activity to its full extent. I may try to visit some classroom meetings and assist my child in completing some tasks. Still, I have to be informed about the nature of such partnership before give my agreement or refuse an offer.