| An often heard complaint among teachers is the lack of parent participation in schools. Teachers feel that the lack of parent involvement affects everything from students' academic performance to their ability to maintain discipline in the classroom. At best, they feel unsupported by the parents of their pupils. At worst, they feel that parents actually undermine their instructional goals and, often, threaten their authority. Parents are seen as apathetic or overbearing; two extremes for which the majority of teachers have little tolerance. Whether by choice or by circumstance, interaction between parents and teachers is kept to a minimum and alliances are seldom forged.
The inability to increase parent participation and parent/teacher cohesion appears even harder to reverse in L.A.’s inner city schools. Here, there is a type of unspoken understanding that parents are liabilities to the process of educating students and even the most well-intentioned teachers in such schools often envision themselves as merely trying to "undo the damage" that parents supposedly have done at home. Consequently, there arises a type of unequal status between schools and the homes (i.e. teachers and parents) in which what the school has to offer towards the betterment of the child is seen as decidedly more valuable than what the parents can. Interactions between teachers and parents take on either a condescending or adversarial tone guaranteed to negate any chance at successful partnership.
An unfortunate side effect of the dissonance between parents and teachers is often the failure to recognize or realize the potential assets that parents bring to the educational process. After all, parents are their children’s first "teachers" and the teaching does not necessarily have to end simply because the child is enrolled in school. In fact, the teaching does continue albeit unwittingly in many cases. So why not capitalize on that fact?
It was in the face of this same question that "Parent Partners," a local parent and teacher collaborative initiative, was conceived and implemented in August 2000. Begun by two Inglewood Kindergarten teachers, "Parent Partners" was founded on the idea that parents and teachers continue to share the responsibility of educating children both in and out of the classroom with the understanding that such "sharing" can only succeed in a climate of mutual respect, open dialogue, and equity. Parents had to be invited to participate as equals, capable of learning and teaching reciprocally.
"Parent Partners" took shape as a series of monthly after school workshops in which parents and teachers meet to: 1) discuss issues surrounding the education, the school site, and the community and 2) participate in hands-on training in practical instructional techniques which parents and teachers can use to improve students’ learning and performance.
Although the workshops are hosted and facilitated by the teachers, the guiding principle is that all participants have a voice that is equally valued. The meetings are conducted in a circle. Each meeting begins with parents interviewing each other on selected topics ranging from their favorite color to their opinions on how the school can foster better community relations. Parents present their findings to the group. The agenda follows with a break for shared refreshments and informal conversation after which the hands-on training begins. Typically, the training focuses on a select area such as "building number recognition" or "questioning strategies for bedtime stories." Role play is used to present both effective and ineffective methods and parents create their own take-home manipulatives and visual aides during the training. The workshop closes with an open Q & A session.
So far, the "Parent Partners" meetings have been well-attended and highly praised by both the parents and the teachers involved. There is a sense of shared ownership and cooperation that arises in each meeting that literally leaves each participant on a sort of "high" as each session comes to a close. It has also revealed that parents have a great eagerness to be involved but often don’t know how. What is mistaken as parent apathy is many times mere unawareness. Schools and parents owe it to themselves and to the students to take a closer look at the so-called lack of parent involvement and seek ways that will make alliance-building a successful reality.
It is hoped that as time goes on, similar initiatives will be enacted throughout the campus and district. For more information on "Parent Partners" contact Cicely Morris at cmorris@email.com.
Cicely Morris is a Kindergarten teacher at Woodworth Elementary in Inglewood |
