Page 11 - The Inquiry into the Development and Implementation of a Multimedia Resource to Help Improve Parental Involvement in Their Child’s Reading Literacy During the Primary School Years.

employed by the school for the past 10 years, seven of which were as a classroom

teacher and the remaining three as a full-time ICT (Information Communication
Technology) teacher. My current position in our school is ‘Leader of ICT’. This role

primarily consists of teaching ICT to pupils from the ages of four to 12 years. I also
work as a sixth-class resource teacher where I assist pupils with additional

educational needs in the areas of literacy, specifically reading support, for

approximately six hours each week.

During their time at our school, parents have access to a parent and pupil handbook,
a 27 page guide that provides essential information on matters such as Pastoral Care,

Communication, Curriculum and Routines, and Homework. This text-based

handbook is available via PDF on our school website. The purpose of my
multimedia resource is to create a more engaging and interactive guide for the

parents of our school, with a particular focus on reading homework. This was
accomplished by using a blended learning approach and presenting the essential

information using a variety of rich media such as video, digital animations, music
and graphics. It provides answers to the more commonly asked questions by the

parents in our school in the hope of removing any concerns and anxieties they and

their child may have during their time at Castle Park School. The primary role of the
multimedia resource however, is to provide parents with instructional videos on how

to read with their child more effectively by using reading strategies similar to what is
taught in school. The videos also present key information on the main components of

reading; Phonics, Vocabulary, Comprehension, Fluency and Motivation.

My vision for the ‘Parent Learning Zone’ is to help improve the reading literacy

standards within our school. I also aspire to use technology to help bridge the gap
between the home and school to further develop parent-teacher relationships for the

benefit of our pupils. My ontological viewpoint is that the relationship between the

parent and child as well as the school and home is of critical importance for the
academic development of the child. The research will take a pragmatic approach to

this phenomenon and sets out to improve an existing area of learning and inclusion
for the benefit of the parents and the pupils. The methodology to gather information

will rely mainly on a qualitative approach to gather the fine-grained understanding
necessary to see if the resource has an impact on learning. I will also utilise some

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