Imagine that you are the teacher of this classroom. What challenges might you encounter in collaborating with the parents of your students? How might you address these challenges? How might you demonstrate respect for the concerns or contributions of parents?
If I was the teacher of this classroom I feel as though I would have a few troubles collaboration with the parents of my students. I have spoken to the present teacher and we have discussed parental involvement and it is at a minimum. Children’s parents are not involved in their learning and they do not believe that they should be. I was told a story by my teacher the other day about how she called home to report that a child had not done his work and the parent’s response was “but he’s only a kid. You can’t expect him to do all the work”. This stunned me. When I was in school my mom would have grounded me for not doing my work. I was also told that some parents do not want to get involved because they feel like they do not have the power in their child’s education to be actively involved. Many parents feel like their voice is being lost. The thing that I find most interesting is when reading All Speech Is Not Free: The Ethics of “Affirmative Action Pedagogy” by Megan Boler she discusses how a classroom should be a place where “they provide a public space in which marginalized and silenced voices can respond to ignorant expressions rooted in privilege, white supremacy, or other dominant ideologies” If I was to teach this class I would allow the parents to say what they want and for me to be the voice that they are looking for. Sending notes home with the children is not an affective was of communication in my classroom and the parental involvement needs to be lifted. How would a person do this? Calling home and allowing parents to talk about their concerns. Telling parents that as a teacher I am here to hear what they want for their child and what they think is best for the education system. Allowing parents to understand that their child needs support from home and most of the time home is where the support lies in. I would bring together school and home life for the children by having meetings with parents every few months about their general concerns, and if the parents do not want to come, call them. I would need to be on my toes at all times to allow each child to get a fair voice in the classroom.
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I was also very surprised that the parents reaction was, but, hes only a kid. I would have also been grounded if a teacher had to call home about me not doing my school work. I think calling the parents is a great idea, but the only problem is that some parents are still going to have no interest in their childs education. I feel as though some parents will enjoy hearing the progress that their child is making and some may feel like its a waste of their time. I think it's aweful that some parents dont take interest in their childs education. I think Megan Boler would agree with what your trying to do. In Megan Bolers article she also says that "the obligation of education is not to guarentee a space that is free from hostility, but rather to challenge oneself and ones students to critically analyze any statements made in the classroom. Although not every parent is going to respond the same way, I think by having monthly sit downs with the parents, that you are defenitly forcing them to critically think about their childs education I think its a great way to try and get parents involed. Hopefully more parents will take interest in their childs education.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the parents need to be more actively involved in their child's education. Most parents think that they don't have to do anything and that it is completely the teacher's job to deal with their child at school. I think sending notes home and calling the student's parents is a really good idea because it encourages a dialogue between home and school. Those notes and phone calls don't always have to be negative though. My teacher sends home notes to parents when their child has been especially good in school, I think that this is very important because it rewards the positive behavior instead of only focusing on the negative. Also 'Parents Night' at schools is very important especially in elementary school. It gives the children a chance to show off their work to their parents, shows the parents the environment that their children are in for 30 hours every week, and it gives the teacher a chance to make a connection with the parent so they can have an easier time communicating with and understanding their student. The parents should feel comfortable with calling and discussing issues they may have with the teacher or schedule meetings to come up with strategies to combat their concerns. Communication between school and home is very important in education and I think we need to strive toward making it a higher priority.
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