An Investigation Into the Needs and Challenges of County-Level Family Education Guidance Services and Corresponding Improvement Measures

Deng Xiaobing, Tian Liyan, Ji Ping, and Yang Wei

Jinjiang District Office of Chengdu Education Research Institute

Abstract: The delivery of targeted family education guidance services is essential for establishing a three-in-one education model that encompasses families, schools, and communities.It is also the key to creating a favorable educational environment that promotes the comprehensive and healthy development of individual students.To gain a comprehensive understanding of family education characteristics and trends in Chinese counties, accurately tap into the educational needs of parents, and effectively identify strengths and weaknesses in family education guidance services, this paper employed a quantitative research method based on a questionnaire survey and interview data from J district of C city after years of continuous monitoring of the quality of family education in the area, aiming to explore these issues and put forward several suggestions for improvement.The results indicate that the family learning environment and atmosphere in the district are generally favorable, while parental educational competence requires further improvement.Parents express a strong desire for interactive, systematic, and fragmented family education guidance from schools.Most parents acknowledge the significance of receiving guidance on family education, yet they are disinclined to actively engage in learning-related activities.While the operational mechanisms of county-level family education guidance services have been continuously improved, there is a need for greater overall coordination.Furthermore, the potential of school-led family education guidance services has yet to be fully tapped, and the scientific and professional standards of such guidance need to be further enhanced.Based on the aforementioned findings, we propose recommendations for improvement.Using J district’s effective improvement practices in management, curriculum, and teams as an example, we intend to explore practical ways to promote county-level family education guidance services and provide a valuable reference for the establishment of a comprehensive and effective system to improve such services.

Keywords: family education, family education guidance services, needs and problems, improvement measures, county

Family education is the foundation and prerequisite of all forms of education,constituting a vital component of the educational ecosystem.It is closely related to students’ healthy development, familial happiness, and social stability.Sukhomlinsky emphasized, “Neither school education without family education nor family education without school education can accomplish such a delicate task as the formation of children.” Education reform cannot be effectively implemented without being translated into actions in family education.Therefore, it is imperative to initiate education reform by implementing education for parents and instilling in them the understanding that they are primarily responsible for their children’s education (Hong, 2017, pp.90–92).Emphasizing the significance of family education and providing guidance to establish a robust educational ecosystem has become a global consensus.Many countries, including the US, the UK, Singapore, and South Korea,have introduced national laws and regulations on family education to create a positive social environment and provide legal protection for the development of family education and related guidance services (Ling, 2021, p.8).TheFamily Education Promotion Law of the People’s Republic of China(hereinafter referred to as theFamily Education Promotion Law)came into force in January 2022, which granted greater authority to family education.This marks the first time that China has enacted specific legislation regarding family education,elevating it from a matter of personal concern to one of national importance.TheFamily Education Promotion Lawclearly stipulates that “Parents or other guardians of minors shall be responsible for the implementation of family education.” “Parents or other guardians shall establish a sense of responsibility that family is the first classroom and parents are the first teachers, assume primary responsibility for the implementation of family education for minors.”.This confers upon parents the legal status of being the primary agents responsible for family education.Parental educational competence, which refers to parents’ ability to assume the role of family educators, is the most critical factor in determining the quality of family education (Sheng, 2019).However, in the new era, parents may not feel fully prepared for their children’s education and may experience confusion in family education (Bian,2019).Parental educational competence needs urgent improvement, and parents are in dire need of guidance on family education.To enhance the effectiveness of parental educational competence, we need to establish a systematic and scientific approach to educating parents(Hong, 2017).TheFamily Education Promotion Lawclearly states that “The education administrative departments and the women’s unions shall make overall plans for and coordinate social resources, promote the building of a family education guidance service system covering urban and rural areas in a cooperative manner.” The building of such a system is not only a fundamental guarantee for meeting people’s growing needs for a better life but also serves as an important indicator of improving the national basic public service system (Bian & Zhang, 2021).

China’s compulsory education system is implemented on a county-level basis, wherecounty-level education plays a crucial role in the overall education system.The countylevel family education guidance service system constitutes a crucial component of the local government’s educational governance, serving as an internal impetus for the advancement and enhancement of county-level family education (Bian, Ju, & Sun, 2022).Some districts and counties have made valuable explorations in providing effective family education guidance services.For example, Anji county in Zhejiang province has improved its family education guidance service system by enhancing management mechanisms, professional resources, assessments, resource guarantees, and brand building (Bian, Ju, & Sun, 2022).Meanwhile, Haidian district in Beijing has established a three-tiered family-school service system that covers the administrative district, school district, and schools to promote and publicize scientific educational concepts within families (Haidian Education, 2021).Qingyang district in Chengdu is currently promoting the effective implementation of family education guidance services through a “one goal, one network, and three-pillar”model (Ran, Chen, Zhen, et, al., 2022).Valuable insights have been gained through the current practical explorations of the objectives, contents, targets, subjects, modes, and operational mechanisms of county-level family education guidance services.However, the strategy for establishing a family education guidance service system still contains some speculative elements and empirical tendencies.For example, the majority of the content focuses on providing parents with top-down menu-based guidance for family education,primarily covering information that parents must know and master by referencing national laws and regulations or subject-specific knowledge systems.However, there is a lack of bottom-up order-based content that can address practical issues, and insufficient attention has been paid to addressing the needs of parents.In addition, the monitoring and evaluation of the county-level family education guidance service system is not yet fully developed.A robust monitoring and evaluation system should be established to assess the effectiveness of the promotion of the county-level system, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and put forward suggestions for improvement.

Adhering to the concept that evaluation leads to an excellent education ecosystem and family-school collaboration promotes development, J district of C city has included family education quality as a key element in their comprehensive county-level education quality monitoring project since 2015 and conducted constant tracking and monitoring of it.In 2016,J District established the “Family Education Research and Guidance Center for Primary and Secondary Schools (as well as Kindergartens) in J district” to comprehensively promote county-level family education guidance services.Based on the monitoring data collected from 2015 to 2022, J district has identified the characteristics and changing trends of countrylevel family education.By exploring the needs of parents, strengthening on-demand training,and continuously optimizing the county-level family education guidance service system, a practical paradigm for the development of county-level family education guidance servicesthat meets national, provincial, and municipal requirements while also being highly effective has been established.

Research Design

Research Questions

The primary objective of this study was to enhance the county-level family education guidance service system by addressing the specific needs of parents and conducting actionbased diagnoses.With this objective in mind, the present study centers on two specific problems:

Question 1: What is the status of family education guidance services in J district?Specifically, this encompasses the characteristics of family education among students in J district, parents’ demands for guidance services for family education, and the current status of available guidance services for family education.

Question 2: What practical measures can be taken to enhance the quality of county-level family education guidance services?

Research Tools

Indicator System

The monitoring we conducted focused on the perspectives of family-school collaboration,parental educational competence, family background, and parenting style.Family-school collaboration encompasses five indicators, namely, system construction, participation status,effect evaluation, partner evaluation, and self-evaluation.Parental educational competence comprises three indicators, namely, parents’ educational concept, knowledge, and ability.Family background encompasses seven indicators, including parental background, family structure, parental expectations, parent-child companionship, reading environment, electronic device management, and democratic atmosphere.Family parenting style is characterized by three indicators, namely, emotional warmth, rejection and denial, and overprotection.

Evaluation Tools

Questionnaire tools related to family-school cooperation, parental educational competency,family background, and parenting styles were developed for our research purposes.They were tested and revised for several rounds to ensure their effectiveness.The reliability and validity of these assessment tools were evaluated using SPSS 24.0 and Mplus 7.0, satisfying the requirements specified in theSpecification for Quality Evaluation of Monitoring Tools for Academic Quality of Basic Education(Sichuan Provincial Local Standard DB51/T2115-2016)(revised).Interview tools, such as interview outlines for teachers, parents, and schools were also developed.

Table 1 Reliability and Validity of Questionnaire Tools

Research Objects

With reference to various educational quality monitoring items at all levels and the stage division of compulsory education, and considering the phased characteristics of students’physical and mental development, students from Grade 4 and Grade 7 were selected to represent primary and middle school students, respectively.On this basis, the research objects are defined as all teachers, parents, and students in Grade 4 and Grade 7 during the current monitoring year.The cumulative sample sizes are presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Sum of Monitoring Samples

Data Collection and Analysis

The county-level education quality monitoring support platform was utilized to gather data for questionnaire items, and all samples are included in the test scope, with a recovery efficiency rate ranging from 82.5 percent to 96.8 percent.Subsequently, the platform was employed for data screening and preliminary organizing.The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 24.0 software.Interview samples are randomly selected in a hierarchical manner according to different requirements with the help of the platform.Once the interviewee agrees, the interview will be recorded and then transcribed into written materials.If they prefer not to be recorded, notes will be taken onsite using pen and paper.

Needs and Challenges in County-Level Family Education Guidance Services

Characteristics of County-Level Family Education

Basic Family Information: Generally Favorable Learning Environments and Atmospheres

The survey indicated that 94.8 percent of the students possess a separate learning space, and 80.9 percent of the students have access to a great number of books within theirhouseholds.Parents who have received a university education make up 68.2 percent of the total.What parents commonly engage in during their leisure time includes accompanying their children, doing housework, reading, studying, and playing with mobile phones, among other activities.At least one parent of 85.8 percent of the children had a reading habit, indicating a positive family learning environment.35.6 percent of parents admit to using mobile phones frequently, but 54.7 percent of them hope their children can reduce screen time.This shows a discrepancy between what parents say and do.

In addition, with the progress of urbanization, there is a significant proportion of new residents in J district who are migrants.For example, approximately 20 percent of the population consists of migrant children.The learning conditions of these families are evidently inferior to those of traditional local families.For example, there is a 17 percent decrease in the proportion of parents who engage in leisure reading, a seven percent decrease in those who participate in their children's recreational activities, and a 14 percent decrease in those with a substantial book collection.During the interview, teachers and parents generally expressed that families of newcomers often have limited time and energy to devote to their children’s education.Additionally, parental absence in family education is more prevalent within these households.

Parental Educational Competence Requires Enhancement

Progressed Parents’ Educational Philosophy, Noticeable Emphasis on Practicality and,Significant Amount of Anxiety Surrounding Education.Over 50 percent of parents have demonstrated an increased awareness of reducing their children’s burdens.The percentage of parents engaging their children in extracurricular or tutorial classes on weekdays has decreased by 24 percent, while the percentage of parents assigning additional homework to their children has dropped by almost 30 percent.

The percentage of parents who are paying attention to their children’s moral and personality development as well as emotional well-being has increased by approximately five points.However, parents’ emphasis on academic performance still outweighs that on children’s physical exercise and interests.Parents hold high expectations for their children’s academic achievements, with 65.9 percent hoping for their children to rank among the top ten or top three in class, while 55.9 percent hope their children attain a master’s degree or higher.It has been observed that family education continues to prioritize utilitarianism by placing greater value on intelligence than morality, resulting in academic achievements being the sole consideration for higher education opportunities.

Figure 1 Proportion of parents who arrange extracurricular activities and extra homework for their children

[Parent Interview] Parent A: Of course, the higher the degree, the better.A higher degree can increase the likelihood of finding a good job.I know that other aspects of a child's development are important too, but there just isn't enough time to focus on them after all the studying.

Figure 2 Parents’ concerns about children

Parents’ anxiety caused by “excessive homework burden” and “anxiety sold by extracurricular training institutions” has been alleviated, but a significant number of parents still experience anxiety.For example, 46.2 percent of parents lack knowledge on how to reduce their children’s extracurricular training hours and allocate more time for family activities; 36.7 percent of parents express concerns about the quality and supervision of“invisible” or “disguised” make-up classes; 43.2 percent of parents express concerns regarding their children’s undesired performance due to inadequate training, while 62.1 percent struggle with balancing short-term academic achievements and long-term physical health.

Parental Education Knowledge: Insufficient Family Education Knowledge and Its Impact on Children’s Growth.According to the survey, 43.8 percent of parents lack adequate knowledge in the field of family education.Parents have a general understanding of their children’s physical development and growth laws but may lack medical expertise.Unfortunately, less than 40 percent of parents possess a basic understanding of child psychology and educational psychology.

Parental Educational Competence Is Limited and Rudimentary, with a Lack of Necessary Skills.More than 70 percent of parents reported a lack of confidence in their ability to effectively discipline their children, while 10 percent adopted an indulgent parenting style.What parents lack is the capacity to cultivate and mentor their children, as well as the emotional intelligence and self-directed learning skills needed for effective mentoring.For instance, 32 percent of parents resort to punishment when their children make mistakes due to the parents’ inadequate educational skills and insufficient emotional regulation capability.

Figure 3 Score of parental educational competence

[Parent Interview] Parent B: I’m somewhat impatient when it comes to helping the kid with his homework.I tend to get antsy and end up scolding him.

Figure 4 Parents’ strategies for addressing children’s misbehaviors

High Level of Awareness Regarding Effective Family Education Methods and Exhibit Low Degree of Implementation.The majority of parents (60 percent to 70 percent) highly recognized the importance of family education, while a significant proportion (30 percent to 40 percent)said they frequently accomplished such education.This indicates that parents are capable of assessing the quality of family education but may not be able to consistently implement effective family education practices.

[Teacher Interview] Teacher A: Parents are failing to set a positive example for their children.For example, they want their kids to cultivate good reading habits, but they're always on their phones.Still, they expect their children to be excellent without setting a positive example for them.

Figure 5 Parents’ awareness and implementation regarding effective family education methods

Family Education Guidance Service Demand of Parents in Counties

Channels: Most Parents Desire to Obtain Family Education Guidance From the School

66.8 percent of parents said they were not sure whether the family education knowledge they had acquired was scientific.72.3 percent of parents hope to receive family educationguidance services through school channels.

Figure 6 Sources of guidance information on family education that parents find most useful

Figure 7 Channels through which parents wish to receive family education guidance services

Form: Prefer Interactive, Structured, and Fragmented Guidance

Family education has evolved beyond the traditional approach of simply ferrying children to and from tutorial classes, helping them with homework,investing large sums of money, and supporting school-based learning.Nowadays, parents are seeking highquality parent-child interactions that require more time and energy on their part.They also desire flexible guidance that accommodates less rigid schedules and spatial constraints.Meanwhile,parents are willing to participate in systematic and specialized studies to make up for their lack of integrated knowledge and insufficient depth due to a fragmented understanding.

Content: Neglect of Family Communication, Familial Environment, and Vocational Guidance

In terms of content, parents tend to pay more attention to information that directly pertains to childcare while overlooking the significance of family communication, familial environment, and vocational guidance.These factors can often be the main cause of parents feeling confused about family education.For example, parents may have high hopes for their children’s future careers but might not offer enough guidance in choosing a profession,resulting in conflicts between the parents’ aspirations and their children’s uncertain career paths.

Motivation: Parents Recognize the Importance of Receiving Family Education Guidance but Exhibit a Feeble Inclination to Actively Acquire Related Knowledge

82.8 percent of parents acknowledged the necessity of family education guidance, yet less than 50 percent proactively engaged in studying it.This reflects the contradictory state of parents: While recognizing the importance of parental learning, they lack the enthusiasm to learn related knowledge.Interviews revealed that parents tend to seek assistance from schools in educating their children or providing effective teaching methods when their children encounter difficulties.They seldom reflect on their own shortcomings.

Figure 8 Parents’ favorite guidance activities

Figure 9 Family education guidance expected by parents

Situations of County-Level Family Educational Guidance Services

The Management and Operational Mechanism Shall Be Continuously Enhanced, While the Overall Planning and Coordination Require Further Strengthening

In 2016, J district established the “Family Education Research and Guidance Center for Primary and Secondary Schools (Kindergartens)” and set up a leading group for family education, which is led by government officials and participated by heads of relevant departments.The district also established a multi-unit joint working mechanism and incorporated family education as an integral component of the daily supervision conducted by a public oversight group.This is included in the fundamental objective assessment of the school.However, the survey found that the guidance center still faces some problems and challenges, such as difficulty in fully integrating the core resources of county-level family education guidance services, a less prominent leading role of education administration authorities, a lack of professional guidance from research institutions, delayed resource sharing among social education colleges, separated and scattered guidance work provided by schools, communities, and other service subjects, and insufficient joint forces resulting from ambiguous functional boundaries.

Schools Generally Value Family Education Service Guidance, but There Is Room for Improvement in Exerting the Subjective Role of Schools

All primary and secondary schools(kindergartens) in the district have launched parental education programs, and 81.6 percent of the schools have developed family education guidance service plans and provided related services.However,schools often view their involvement in and support of family education guidance as the primary means of providing such guidance.This limits the scope of family-school co-education and restricts it to parents’ collaboration with school affairs.Schools tend to carry out active communication with parents mostly to tackle issues concerning students and to fulfill requests from parents.Notably,as per the survey results, 89.2 percent of parents seem to take a passive role in family-school interactive activities.

Figure 10 Reasons for teachers’ active contact with parents

Figure 11 Parents’ satisfaction with family-school interactions

The Scientific Research and Specialization of Family Education Guidance Need to Be Enhanced

First, the content falls short of meeting the actual needs.The current family education guidance fails to adequately address the issues regarding the early growth characteristics of students and the creation of an enabling educational atmosphere within families.Instead, such guidance focuses primarily on providing remedial measures for issues rather than offering comprehensive guidance to meet the diverse needs of parents.For example,89.7 percent of teachers think that the guidance service should concentrate on addressing potential issues that may arise during the various stages of students’development.However, parents expect guidance focused on training children and implementing family education.Second,the competencies of instructors may vary.According to the survey, 98.3 percent of the schools arranged for class advisers to provide family education guidance services,while only 34.2 percent of the class advisers considered themselves competent in this area,and 25.4 percent of them admitted incompetence to conduct this task.Additionally, instructors tended to rely excessively on past experiences, lacked systematic training, and neglected the areas of activity and key tasks associated with parents.

Figure 12 Teachers’ access to family education knowledge

Figure 13 Teachers’ access to family education guidance knowledge

Figure 14 Guidance literacy that teachers anticipate acquiring through relevant training

Reflection on Strategies for Enhancing County-Level Family Education Guidance Services Through Situational Analysis

Parents Should Strengthen Their Sense of Responsibility as the Primary Educators in the Family, Actively Acquire Knowledge and Continuously Improve Their Skills in Family Education

Marx proposed in theTheses on Feuerbachthat “the educator himself must be educated.”Parents, as the executors of family education, should keep learning all the time and embrace a scientific approach to childcare.They need to overcome negative tendencies such as utilitarianism and anxiety and provide effective family education for their children through correct ideas, methods, and behaviors.The core content of family education guidance services is parental education, which falls under the category of adult education and requires adherence to adult education principles.The nature of adult education dictates that only when parents are willing to receive family education guidance services can the external entities exert influence on them; otherwise, it would constitute “non-violent coercion and control”(Li & Zheng, 2022).Adult education expert Malcolm Knowles has extensively explored the differences between adult and child learning, conducted extensive research on self-directed adult learning, and underscored the paramount importance of learner autonomy among adults(Dai & Fang, 2022).Parents should further reinforce their notions that the family serves as the first classroom, and they are the first teachers of children.They should effectively assume a leading role in implementing family education.With a strong sense of responsibility, they ought to enhance autonomy in learning and maintain learning motivation by placing emphasis on the timely and continuous pursuit of knowledge.In this way, parents can effectively manage the conflict between work and education, translate their perception of learning into tangible behaviors, and intentionally apply acquired knowledge to parenting practices.It should be noted that prevention is more beneficial than treatment in family education.From the perspective of positive psychology, guiding parents to facilitate their children’s acquisition of positive emotional experiences, fostering a drive for excellence in them, and directing them towards an optimistic outlook on both academic pursuits and life itself are pivotal aspects of effective family education guidance (Jiang, 2016).Parents should explore effective principles and methods for achieving family happiness and creating a harmonious and joyful atmosphere within the family through emotional regulation, communication skills, and positive behavior modeling to empower children with psychological resilience (Hao, 2020).Therefore, parents should not limit themselves to corrective and remedial parenting approaches for problemsolving purposes and knowledge related to child development guidance skills.They should also enhance their personal qualities, such as emotional management and communication skills, and intensify their family-building efforts through the cultivation of family morality,construction of family traditions, and improvement of overall family happiness.

By Clarifying the Boundaries of Family-school Education, Schools Can Fully Leverage the Primary Role of Family Education Guidance Services and Enhance the Quality of Such Services

In theOpinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Deepening Education and Teaching Reform to Improve the Quality of Compulsory Education in an Allround Way, it is clearly stipulated that schools should assume the responsibility of providingfamily education guidance services, attach great importance to family education, and provide public welfare family education guidance services for parents.TheFamily Education Promotion Lawclearly stipulates that primary and secondary schools and kindergartens shall “incorporate family education guidance services into schoolwork plans” and “regularly organize public welfare family education guidance services and practical activities.” The responsibility of schools to provide guidance on family education is not only a policy and legal obligation but also a practical necessity for the establishment of a high-quality education system (Zhou, Liu, & Wu, 2023).Schools and families have come together as a community with a shared responsibility and commitment to promoting children’s development, schools,and families.With their inherent organizational and professional expertise, schools are wellequipped to provide guidance on family education (Ji & Kang, 2022; Yan, 2019).Schools are expected to serve as the primary channel and platform for family education guidance services.It is unacceptable to use the narrow excuse that school education targets students rather than parents as a means of denying schools’ crucial responsibility to actively carry out family education guidance services.However, the emphasis on school-led family education does not imply that teachers should implement all aspects of family education, nor does it suggest that the guidance provided by schools should encompass every aspect of family education.School education and family education have their own distinct responsibilities and boundaries.School education focuses on imparting knowledge, cultivating abilities, and developing quality, while family education primarily emphasizes life education, personality development, and behavior shaping (Yang, 2018).Schools should establish clear boundaries for family education guidance services by first defining the distinction between family and school education to determine the scope and objectives of such services (Wang, 2023).Therefore, schools should establish clear objectives and subjectivity in providing family education guidance services, and consciously integrate these services into their work plans.Schools can enhance the expertise and levels of teachers providing family guidance services through various means, such as improving mechanisms, systems, faculty development, curriculum design and support (Lu, 2022).

Improving County-Level Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanisms and Promoting the Construction of County-Level Family Education Guidance Service System in a Targeted and Coordinated Manner

In light of China’s county-based education management system, it is important to take into account the actual state of county-level education development when promoting family education guidance services at this level.Specifically, it is necessary to leverage the unique features of county-level education, integrate local human and material resources as well as other available resources, and foster multi-level and comprehensive cooperation and support mechanisms, all with a view to advancing the county-level family education guidance services in all schools and communities in the region.As there is a lack of well-established monitoringand evaluation mechanisms for the county-level family education guidance service system,tools for the monitoring and evaluation approach, such as process control, effect supervision,and performance evaluations, have yet to be implemented.This is a common deficiency in current family education guidance practices and the building of family education guidance service systems, as evidenced by an emphasis on quantity rather than quality in grassroots family education guidance work, as well as a lack of scientific rigor in survey data and evaluation results (Zhang, 2021).The process of monitoring provides systematic, hierarchical,and real-time observation and detection of the resource input, operational processes, and output results within the education system.The data generated from this process offers sufficient evidence to support educational governance (Gao & Fang, 2022).Evaluation judges the value of education based on monitoring, which not only impacts the direction and objectives of educational practice but also plays a crucial role in regulating internal orders(Zong, 2022).Monitoring and evaluation are essential for leading, diagnosing, consulting,and supervising educational activities to ensure high-quality education delivery (Li, 2021).Therefore, county-level educational authorities should enhance the monitoring and evaluation mechanism of family education guidance services and comprehensively analyze the data collected regarding the quality of guidance services to deliver better services.To achieve this goal, they should give full play to the role of goal orientation, dynamic analysis, prediction,early warning, problem diagnosis, highlight discovery, and effectiveness testing.Efforts should also be directed towards enhancing the accuracy and effectiveness of supervision,improving their scientific approach to educational management and decision-making, and promoting collaboration among various systems such as rectification, accountability, and reward to ensure the effective implementation of responsibilities, optimize practices, and effectively enhance the quality of county-level family education guidance services.

Practice and Exploration of County-Level Family Education Guidance Services

Promoting County-Level Family Education Guidance Services with Schools as the Major Participants

Promoting county-level family education guidance services is an inevitable requirement for the establishment of comprehensive and effective family education guidance service systems(Bian, Ju, & Sun, 2022).The primary position and subjective role of schools in providing guidance services for family education are the most effective paths and key factors to enhance the quality of such services as well as family education.Relevant educational authorities should optimize the organizational management systems in combination with their monitoring results.They should also clarify the status of the joint guidance center established by the district education research institute and community education college while clearly definingrelationships among administration authorities, research and training institutions, schools, social educational organizations, and communities.As a collaborator in family education, the center is jointly promoted at the county level and implemented by schools as the main body.This approach fully leverages the organizational and professional advantages of schools while also utilizing community resources to promote educational functions for parents and communities alike.By synergizing various carriers, an efficient and orderly organization and management system can be established.

Figure 15 Organization and management system of county-level family education guidance services

Carrying out Systematic Research and Developing Serialized Family Education Guidance Courses

It is imperative to adhere to the guidance of scientific research, intensify investigations into the characteristics of family education and parents’ needs in the new era, and enhance theoretical and practical research on family education guidance services.Furthermore, it is essential to develop parental courses aimed at enhancing their educational competence as well as teachers’ courses aimed at improving their ability to guide family education.During the process of curriculum design, it is imperative to consider the actual needs of both parents and teachers, as well as address common issues in counties and individual challenges faced by typical and special families.By combining top-down menu courses with bottom-up order courses, the practicality and relevance of the course can be greatly enhanced.Simultaneously,it is imperative to consistently monitor and evaluate the implementation and impact of courses,dynamically adjust course modules, and update course content.

Taking Multiple Measures to Improve the Professionalism of Teachers in Providing Family Education Guidance Services

Teachers play a pivotal role in providing family education guidance services, and the quality of their guidance can significantly impact its effectiveness.Relevant educational authorities should continuously enhance the top-level design and implement corresponding systems and mechanisms to provide institutional guarantees.For instance, teachers’ ability to provide guidance on family education should be considered during evaluations.Additionally,in consideration of the distinctive features of professional requirements for family education guidance, effective evaluation methods should be implemented during teacher recruitmentand performance evaluations.Efforts should be made to promote overall design and carry out diverse training sessions.It is imperative to integrate family education guidance service ability training into the essential modules of continuing education and training for teachers,implementing layered and categorized training while enriching forms and experiences such as immersive and participatory training.

Conclusions

Practice Achievements

Schools in J District Offer More Comprehensive Family Education Guidance Services, Which Leads to An Improved Quality of Collaboration Between Families and Schools

Schools in this district have continuously updated their family education guidance services and made improvements in various components of the service system, such as channels,models, objects, and teams.They have established a school-led approach to providing family education guidance services, which has effectively enhanced the quality of family-school collaborative education.For example, over 70 percent of students enrolled in School A are from urban new resident families.The school has extracted the characteristics and challenges of family education of these new resident families.By enhancing guidance time, reducing costs, diversifying forms, and enriching content, parents’ satisfaction with family-school interaction has increased significantly by about seven percent.

Enhancing Teachers’ Professional Development and Improving Their Ability to Provide Guidance on Family Education

The monitoring report facilitates teachers’ accurate understanding of parents’ educational needs, enabling them to consider parental differences when communicating with parents and consciously incorporating scientific teaching methods during parent-teacher interactions.Teachers’ enthusiasm for researching family education guidance has been on the rise, as evidenced by the annual initiation of 32 subtopic studies by teachers in this field.As a result,a number of typical cases have been created, such as “The Energy of Letters in the e-Era”,“Teaching Parents with Practical Educational Skills—A Case Study of Family Education Guidance Practice Made by a Class Advisor,” “Practice Cases and Measures of Family Education Guidance on School Adaptability Issues for Freshmen in Primary School,” and“Daily Records of Parenting Education Activities Serve as a Guide for Family Education and a Driver of Family-school Co-education.”

Parents in J District Are Increasingly Recognizing Their Role as Primary Educators for Their Children

Parents have evolved from passive recipients of family education to active participants.Through engaging in activities, learning by doing, and experiencing the process of doing-understanding-knowing, parents’ subject consciousness in education is further stimulated.Schools actively utilize the function of evaluation and guide parents to update their concepts.During the process of completing the questionnaire, parents engage in self-reflection regarding their own family education attitudes and methods pertaining to the given topics.During the interview and interaction session, parents’ perspectives shifted from merely cooperating with school education to placing equal emphasis on both family and school education.They also came to realize that they bear primary responsibility for their children’s upbringing.

Research Conclusions

The main conclusions of our study are:

First, in terms of the demand for county-level family education guidance services, we observed that the learning conditions and atmosphere of students’ families in counties and districts are generally favorable.However, there is a need to enhance parental educational competence.Parents expect interactive, systematic, and fragmented family education guidance from schools.While recognizing the importance of receiving such guidance, they may not be willing to actively engage in learning related knowledge.

Second, in terms of problems existing in county-level family education guidance services,although the operational mechanisms of county-level family education guidance services have been continuously improved, there is a need for greater overall coordination.Furthermore, the potential of school-based family education guidance services has yet to be fully tapped and the scientific and professional standards of such guidance need to be further enhanced.

Third, in terms of practical measures for improving county-level family education guidance services, it is necessary to establish an organizational management system that is promoted by county-level linkage, implemented by schools, and fully supported by communities while developing systematic, targeted, and serialized family education guidance courses in order to enhance the capacity of teachers in providing effective family education guidance services at the county level and improve the overall quality of such services.