![]() ![]() It also allows them to educate school staff about the community and demonstrate that parents have much to offer if provided the opportunities to do so. Participation on school-based planning and management teams gives parents a chance to learn about the professional side of schooling - to understand the inner workings of curriculum and instruction. It is empowering all the adults who have a stake in children's development. Some may see this arrangement as shifting power from school staff to parents, but it's not power shifting it's power sharing. We applaud the growing trend to decentralize decision making from central offices to individual schools because it creates opportunities for parents and educators to work together, making decisions about school policies and procedures. The starting point in any community is to create opportunities where parents and teachers can learn that they both have children's best interests at heart. At the same time, relatively few schools have open-door policies allowing parents to visit at any time, and parents who insist on playing an active role in their children's education are often branded as troublemakers. The lack of trust and respect can be seen in the growing numbers of parents choosing to enroll their children in private schools or educate them at home, and in the growing reluctance of voters to approve school-bond issues. Before they can develop effective partnerships, educators and families in these communities first have to learn to trust and respect one another.Īlthough it is less obvious, the same is true in more affluent communities. Teachers commute to work and often know very little about the neighborhood outside the school. Many of the parents experienced failure during their own school days and are reluctant to set foot inside their children's schools. The communities in which we are involved - mostly inner city neighborhoods - tend to start with relatively poor relationships between schools and families. Our experience is that significant and meaningful parent involvement is possible, desirable, and valuable in improving student growth and performance. The effort involved in reestablishing these connections is well worth it, as many communities across the country - including those we work with - are discovering. Families, in turn, have to make a commitment of time and energy to support their children both at home and at school. Schools have to reach out to families, making them feel welcome as full partners in the educational process. These days, it can take extraordinary efforts to build strong relationships between families and educators. They constantly observe how the significant adults in their lives treat one another, how decisions are made and executed, and how problems are solved.Īll the experiences children have, both in and out of school, help shape their sense that someone cares about them, their feelings of self-worth and competency, their understanding of the world around them, and their beliefs about where they fit into the scheme of things. Yet children don't stop learning about values and relationships when they enter a classroom, nor do they cease learning academics - and attitudes about learning - when they are at home or elsewhere in their community. We tend to think that schools should stick to teaching academics and that home is the place where children's moral and emotional development should take place. The result, in too many cases, is misunderstanding, mistrust, and a lack of respect, so that when a child falls behind, teachers blame the parents and parents blame the teachers.Īt the same time, our society has created artificial distinctions about the roles that parents and teachers should play in a young person's development. ![]() In many communities, parents are discouraged from spending time in classrooms and educators are expected to consult with family members only when a child is in trouble. Neither educators nor parents have enough time to get to know one another and establish working relationships on behalf of children. ![]() As society has become more complex and demanding, though, these relationships have all too often fallen by the wayside.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |