Improving Parental Involvement in Children's Education
Day One SummaryDay One considerably warmed up and nuanced the topic of parent involvement, pointing to several factors that need to be weighed in this debate:Several contributors to the discussion addressed barriers to parent involvement that often confront parents:
- Parent involvement narrowly equated with fund-raising, particularly by PTAs. Parents can feel quite "put upon" when asked for more and more contributions on top of school fees.
- Poorer parents can feel excluded from participation when money feels like the primary measure of their investment in their children
- Orientation meetings at the start of school and "rushed 5-minute conferences" to discuss the child's performance by subject are the main school-parent engagements, besides PTA and child behaviour issues which call for consultations. These were felt to be inadequate avenues for meaningful parent-school engagement.
All contributors suggested directly or indirectly that parents not only DO want to be involved in their children's education, THEY ARE ALREADY--in the ways that they can be and know how to be. PTA or school visits may be a very inaccurate measure of the degree to which parents are inveested in their children's achievements. Considerable evidence points to the sacrifices and difficult decisions most parents have to make to keep their children in school and equipped for school. Parents want their children to achieve well in school, but may not know how to support this within the home environment, or have too many stressors to pursue guidance in this matter from the school. Nor are they often invited to do this.The exchange offered some specific ideas for what could be considered more meaningful parent-school engagement:
- Urging parents to become "a pest to the teacher" in order to find out what the teacher expects of the child
- Creating school climates in which parents can volunteer, drop in and observe, help some children with their work
- Teachers and principals engaging parents in goal-setting and improvement plans for individual children, sharing methods for assisting children with homework
- Regular conference spaces and days/times when teachers are more accessible to parents
- Capacity building for PTAs to become true monitors of all aspects of school life, holding all stakeholders accountable
- Schools and parents goal-setting together (for children and schools) and developing strategies to achieve the goals
You are urged to read the full contributions made during Day One to get the full import of these points.Day Two seeks contributions describing what some schools are doing to broaden and improve parent involvement, as well as ideas for ways in which teachers and parents could together work toward this goal. It hopes to help answer the excellent questions posed by one contributor about the evidence we have (or do not have) about what aspects of parent involvement make the real difference in children's outcomes. The posted bibliography on the CoP site points to some of this evidence; Grace-Camille (and perhaps others) will share more during Day Two. Have a productive day, and wade in on the discussion.
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Comments (16)
A thought provoking
A thought provoking non-fiction novel “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” written by Amy Chua. It speaks to “Western” parenting verses “Chinese” parenting. This is how Amy Chua describes her two methods of parenting. Some may say she is a bit extreme, however I see a mother who is determined and committed to see her daughters succeed academically and socially. Amy references Jamaican parenting as an effective way to get students to do well. I felt very proud as a Jamaican Mom As a parent we can relate to Amy’s parenting journey for success for her girls. It’s a must read! Regards,Bridget
BTW, I understand
BTW, I understand the Tiger Mother book will be discussed in "book club fashion" at Bookophilia Book Store (92 Hope Road)
The Role of the School and Teachers
I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion yesterday. My thoughts were centered on the idea that parental involvement is behaviour. And if we are to improve this behaviour, there needs to be a better understanding of the factors that encourage/motivate the desired behaviour. There is growing research that is now focused on this idea and suggests that the perception, attitude and behaviour of the school and teachers towards the home-school relation can either make or break the relationship. In my research (Parental Involvement in Education in JamaicaExploring the Factors the Motivate Parents to Become Involved in the Education of their Children, 2009), it was noted that the schools (via the principal) that defined parental involvement as an important part of the schooling process and created the environment that facilitated a mutually beneficial relationship, were the schools that experienced exemplary parental involvement. The research also showed that the teacher was the single most important motivator for total involvement (home and school-based involvement). The teacher's perception of parental involvement and their sense of efficacy were major issues that defined the nature and quality of the home-school relationship. I will share some more from the research as our discussion evolves. But what I want us to remember from my contribution is that the decision to become involved in the education of their children is not ad hoc. The school and teachers have a leadership role to play in creating an environment that encourages and supports involvement. I believe that we need more research to explore perception, attitudes and behaviours of the school and teachers towards parental involvement so that we can better support our children.
We could begin the
We could begin the parents as partners in the early years where it is made compulsory for parents come for one hour , three mornings a week for two weeks when their child first begins school. The parent and the child learn about the VALUE of learning through play and how and when to make 'learning' interventions. For example in sand and water play how aspects of conservation are learnt and how the imagination is stimulated through creating scenarios in the sand with small toy animals, trucks etc. How to share a book by "talking like a book" to create a love of books and so on, promoting emergent writing etc. Parents need to know how this works , as small children do not learn well sitting at desks all day repeating words, colouring in between the lines! and joining dots. If you get the parents involved early you will have no problems later on.
My PTA Experience
I read with great interest your well written treatise on parents "connectedness" to their children and school and commend you not only for the clarity of your thoughts, but also for sharing them with other stakeholders. In the interest of balance and fairness however, I feel inspired to address some of the points you made in the hope that my contribution may strengthen our combined efforts at improving our children's educational experience nationwide. Though your experience at three traditional high schools in Jamaica exceeds mine, I trust that my experience as Jamaica College's PTA President for the last year may still be of some value in our deliberations. Firstly, I concur with you that the main points of contact between parent and school has been fund raising and responding to child misbehavior but I honestly do not agree that these reasons necessarily need to be "barriers." I prefer to see them as "bridges" from which the other laudable goals you mentioned can be pursued as we continued to explore the best strategies and methodologies going forward. I respectfully caution you also, not to assume that your experiences are universal as many PTAs will advise you that large percentage of parents do not pay their PTA fees since by law these cannot be mandated on the parents. This places a burden on the PTAs who try to make up the deficit by fund raising efforts, although admittedly the mercenary and rapacious methods utilized by some understandably act as a turn off to parents already challenged with the general economic challenges of life. Be advised also, that speaking of my own school, the PTA in collaboration with a supportive Board and inspirational Principal, have been able to tackle the issues you indicate are of interest to you, and we have been blessed with some successes. For example, in our monthly meetings Principal Ruel Reid passionately speak to the schools' academic goals, and routinely updates parents on the standards of subjects, grades, teacher related information and a plethora of other relevant matters. During our meetings also, he consistently expounds on "tools and methodologies parents can us to support their children with school work at home." In addition, during the term the school administration organizes multiple sessions for consultations with parents and these are well attended. On our part, the current Jamaica College PTA endeavour to be the "accountability framework" that you so perceptively demand, but we still use creative and innovative approaches to attract funds, but in ways that are not burdensome are invasive to parents. For example, we have been able to offer sponsors access to the parents of our 1800 students in exchange for financing our monthly meetings. We operate from a formal, documented strategic plan which ensures that as you suggest, "goals are set, specific actions are outlined to achieve these goals, monitoring and evaluation exercises are carried out checking progress against goals." We have also been able to send teachers to seminars, get monthly speakers on technical or other helpful topics, provide welfare assistance to needy parents / students, and provide other services too lengthy to mention in this already too long email. You also I'm sure will agree that not all parents are as responsible, and caring as you are. In fact many appear to dump the students on the schools hoping that their parental inadequacies will be magically offset by miraculous interventions by their schools. Yes there are challenges, yes there are frustrations at times, and yes there is enough blame to go around on all stake holders. However, I implore you to take heart at what is happening here at JC. Channel you frustration into action by joining your PTA executive or volunteering in some way. Our students, schools, and indeed country need thoughtful parents like you to light a candle, while you are cursing the dark. Respectfully yours,Collin Greenland,PTA President
The JC example is a useful
The JC example is a useful one and thoughtfully outlined without defensiveness. This is clearly a school to learn from in terms of all that it takes to create a more positive parent-school relationship. I am picking up, though, only on the comment in the last paragraph that "many [parents] appear to dump the students on the schools hoping that their parental inadequacies will be magically offset by miraculous interventions by their schools" and that "there is enough blame to go around on all stake holders". I do not doubt the veracity of these two comments--we all know of neglectful or inadequate parents who hope others will take up the slack--and there is "blame" for current poor relationships on both sides. This being said, though, what are the implications? When we were children, sometimes "blaming" and "shaming" worked to correct us because we so valued the opinion of our parents that we straightened up. Others of course received so much of this that they just became angry and stopped trying to do better. Parents, however, are not children; they will not respond positively to attitudes that treat them like children, or that point fingers of blame at them. Yes, many may know their inadequacies, but we who look on have no idea what experiences resulted in those inadequacies, of what they are otherwise capable, or whether they have stopped trying to do better. Over the years, Parenting Partners has found that parents respond much more favourably to invitations to build on the strengths they DO have or want to acquire, than to negative judgements (real or perceived) about their parenting. JC's approach seems to be about developing more positive invitations to engage, and in a variety of areas in which different parents can find different niches to feel comfortable. i hope we hear of more examples of whole schools or individual teachers and principals who have sought out parents' strengths to their mutual benefit.
Janet, your
Janet, your contribution supports my research which strongly suggests that a parent is more to positively become involved in the education of their children when they are Encouraged and a menu of options become available that considers their life context.
I remember as a
I remember as a young teacher taking parental involvement to the classroom level. That is, I did not wait for the school to initiate activities. I made it my duty to know the parents of every child in my class. Some I had to visit at home. Additionally, if one of my students was too ill to be at school after two days of illness I paid him/her a visit at home. The response was always positive. I got my students to do so much more. I made them accountable because they and their parents realised I was deeply interested in their welfare. Of course this was in the late 70s-early 80s in rural Jamaica. Do teachers make house calls anymore? I now have as my mission the preparation of teachers of the highest quality. What would anyone recommend should be included in their programme to enable them to encourage a greater involvement of parents?
YES Christopher This
YES Christopher This is exactly the way to go ,congratulations. When i first started teaching year 5 in the UK i was 'afraid' of my Jamaican parents so I found ways to make their enthusiasm work for the best. I learnt that once you have the parents on your side the student will be almost a model pupil and everyone is happy plus if you do home visits and you actually live in the community its serves to build better after school stuff like youth clubs, church groups and all sorts of exciting spin offs like cake and pudding!
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