Families that learn together, grow together
July 2009
More than 90 per cent of parents think it is important to learn within the family, with 78 per cent admitting that they too had learnt something new alongside their children, finds a new report from education innovator Futurelab. With findings like these, the Learning in Families with Digital Technologies report highlights the need for learning in the family to be seen as just as important as learning in the classroom. It also explores the potential of digital technologies such as mobile phones, digital cameras and the internet to support learning in the family and to join up the learning that takes place in the home and school.
Learning in the family can include activities such as playing computer games, visiting attractions and days out, and using the internet. It has received increased attention from policymakers in recent years, namely through the Parental Engagement agenda which aims to enhance parents’ involvement in their children’s learning. It also relates to the government’s Home Access initiative, which will help to make the technologies that could support family learning more accessible than ever by extending computer and internet access into homes than wouldn’t otherwise have it.
The report highlights the fact that learning in families is as diverse as families themselves, and so covers a wide array of activities; different families have different needs and therefore learn in different ways. Everyday tasks from playing games and talking to friends on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, can support learning, with older family members learning from children as much as the other way round.
The key to successful family learning is to remember that it is, by its very nature, different from school. Lyndsay Grant, Researcher at Futurelab, comments: “The challenge is to make the most of learning in the family without attempting to turn the family home into a classroom. Families are relationships not educational institutions - programmes that support family learning therefore need to acknowledge and build upon the power of these intimate relationships and the learning that already takes place within the family rather then trying to redesign the family into a formal educational institution.”
The Learning in Families report, including survey results and a poster illustrating the range of ways that technology can be used to learn in the family can all be downloaded free of charge from www.futurelab.org.uk/projects/learning-in-families.