E-Step – Supporting Teachers' and Parents' Partnerships Social-Networking Technologies

Abstract

The E-STEP Project (www.estep-project.eu) supports the collaboration of schools and parents through social-networking technologies. Teachers and school managers skills to collaborate with pupils parents have been identified as one of the priorities that EU Member States should promote both in initial teacher training, as well as in teachers ongoing professional support, in order to achieve high quality of teaching. Schools are viewed as learning communities, where pupils, parents and teachers commit to a common vision about the values and objectives of schooling. Effective school leadership is also associated with building active partnerships with parents so as to foster higher achievement levels as well as to support pupils overall cognitive and social development.