When I was in high school, there was one teacher who was notorious for not wanting to “deal” with parents. Granted, where I went to high school, most of the problems that occurred were petty “my kid deserves this grade” and “why did you take points off for this”. Most teachers probably do not want to deal with this. So when I first started reading this week’s articles, I was unsure of what was meant by parent involvement. However, after reading these articles, I have a better grasp on what is meant by engaging parents in schools.
One article that I found particularly interesting was “Beyond the Bake Sale.” This gave me another viewpoint of the parent/ teacher relationship, that of the minority and immigrant parents. I went to high school in a predominantly white town and graduated in a class of 300 students with less than 20 of those being minority students. The administrators at my school did not feel like they had to do much to cater to those individuals since they represented such a small percentage. However, Warren makes a good point in that immigrant parents may have an excellent understanding of their own child, but are unable to communicate to the teacher their pedagogical needs. How do we deal with this? If communities played a larger role in the school system, and if there was a network of parents who knew each other and looked out for each other’s kids, it might be a little easier. There is an old saying that it takes a village to raise a child, but in my experience, the only two adults who had any hand in raising me were my two parents. I was lucky in that both my parents are white, college educated, and speak English, but what about a student of another race, who may not have college educated parents that speak little to no English? Who can help that child?
Auerbach also had an interesting point that minority or immigrant parents often push their children educationally in ways that typically go unnoticed. Listed were some examples such as limiting chores to allow for more study time, or sacrificing personal needs to allow the child to attend a private school. José, the parent of a high achieving male student, stated that “he sees that we are nothing; he wants to become something.” His story really made me upset, because it is clear that these parents care very much for their son’s education, in ways that may go unnoticed. But to say that the parents are “nothing” is a HUGE understatement. They are playing the most important role in their son’s life, and provide him with the encouragement and support that he needs. Sure, the parents might not be seen as successful in the work field, but what they have done for their son is a far cry from “nothing.”
It is clear from these articles that parent involvement plays a huge role in a student’s success. Support from parents is not complaining to a teacher about having a few points knocked off an assignment; it is encouraging the child to be something better than what they were. I hope that when I teach, I can show all parents that I also support their children, and will take any advice from them on how to do it best.
Denise, I also went to a high school with over 300 white students and only a handful of minority students. Like your experience, my minority classmates were generally ignored. One reason the culture of my school was white-focused could be that most of the teachers were white. I remember reading in "The Dreamkeepers" how seeing an all-white faculty discourages minority students. Schools might have more success connecting with and engaging minority parents, guardians, etc., if they hired more teachers from these minorities.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Michael. I think it would be a great idea to hire more teachers from the minority groups. Not only would the students be able to identify with such a teacher, but so would the parents. Also, these teachers may have first hand experience with the struggles that we can only read about, and be able to use their own experiences to help students deal with their conflicts.
DeleteI think that one reason that parents can't communicate the pedagogical needs of their children is that they may not think that they know what they are. I agree that most parents know their kids well and know how to encourage/discourage them, but how does that translate to teaching and the classroom? We have been learning about this in our graduate program, but most people aren't used to looking at learning this way. I think that teachers need to spend time listening to parents and that the teachers are the ones who should be translating what they are hearing into pedagogy.
ReplyDeleteI agree Sue. You worded it much more clearly than I did. Most of the time, the people who know the students best is the parents. By listening to what the parents have to say about their children, teachers hopefully can figure out which style of learning works best for each student.
Deleteyour comment that "the only two people who raised me were my two parents" is very interesting. Those who wrote the saying about the community failed to take into account the child/students perspective. You feel that your parents were pivotal parts of the equation that has resulted in YOU. Obviously there are others who have different perspectives. I like how you combat this idea with a unique experience but still understand possibilities of others. For many an understanding well educated teacher is paramount in their development where others have well educated parents who really dip into their child's education. At the end of the day I agree with you that parent/guardian involvement plays the biggest role in a child's educational development, or lack thereof.
ReplyDeleteI thought some of Auerbach's expectations were a little unreasonable. When I think about any family that struggles, not just immigrants, I think of the restrictions of child development in general. Children take on roles of the adults in those situations, whether it be providing as a caretaker, taking on a job or a number of other items. Families in these situations have no choice and do not have the freedom to spend more time in schools and/or working on classwork. Cases like this rely heavily on community programs, that are not always easily accessible to the people who need them. Teachers/administration/department heads should be more involved with the community, so that when situations like this present themselves, families are provided the resources they desperately need.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you strongly that a parents role in their child's educational success is paramount. From the readings like Auerbach's I found myself reevaluating how parents can be affective to their children's education. Coming away from these readings as a teacher I found myself having a better understanding for how difficult it is for the minority or immigrant parents to fulfill the traditional active school parent roles we as educators expect. I agreed with Auerbach when she argued that as educators we must be come to view parents as assets and not servants.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this weeks assignments, i completely agree with you. My parents had a huge impact on my school work and how i did in school. I dont know how I would have finished school without them, and that includes college. I think it is important for the teacher to make the first move in making that relationship with their students' parents. That way they can take advantage of the parents knowledge of their kid. Like Matt said, they are an asset to the classroom!
ReplyDeleteI do agree that parents can and are very influencial in a student's success in school. I like the idea of having a support group or parents especially immigrant parents. It can be very hard for a parent who does not know the system themself to help their children navigate it.
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