These papers really hit home. For the past two years I have been hearing "It's because the parents don't value education" or "We don't have ANY parent involvement". To be completely honest, I agreed. Oftentimes parents wouldn't even show up for IEP meetings. Some parents seemed to have no clue that their child was failing.
...And to be honest, a lot of the blame is on the teachers.
Shocking as it may be, I too take some blame. I HATE calling home and/or talking to parents. I have a hard time understanding accents, I worry that they may put me in an awkward position (i.e. blaming me and having the situation blow up) or something similarly negative.
But if we want all of this "parent involvement", which the Auerbach paper suggests we reconceptualize, I think that we need to take active roles in getting what we want. In truth, my idea of parent involvement is definitely different from that of my students' families.
While Auerbach suggests that "parent support" is the same as "parent involvement" I have to disagree. I support my students, but I also actively involve myself in their grades and their lives. I feel like, with many parents, it isn't enough to simply support their child.
That being said, I think the biggest issue at hand is the lack of parent-teacher communication. I honestly feel that communicating more with the parents can (and will, next year) truly open up a lot more achievement. Does this change the fact that some students simply aren't motivated to succeed for whatever reason? Certainly not, but it may change the attitudes of some students.
Nice commentary.
ReplyDeleteI want to think that the parents do value their kids' success, but they sometimes show it in funny ways, and they don't always want to be actively involved in it, contrary to what the article says. I also feel uncomfortable sometimes contacting parents - I want to say positive things, but I can't think of enough to say and it becomes awkward, and I certainly do not want to tell them what to do with their kids. Also, at my school, we only call parents/guardians of our advisees, which we don't necessarily have in our classes, so I have little academic information about them and sometimes not much at all if they aren't open or talkative. I would like to have more communication - I need more to communicate about. I welcome any ideas.
Love the post Eric and I think that I agree. My parents knew nothing of what I was doing in school. Sure I would bring home papers and grades but needless to say, like any kid would, I only brought home the really great work. I am going to make it a point just like Auerbach says to be active with students lives. If they are failing someone needs to know about it. Sure, the kid might get in trouble but I would make it clear at the beginning that I am going to notify your parents of any D's or F's you receive so if you do not want that to happen keep up the good work and ask me for help if necessary.
ReplyDeleteI think what is important is that we need to read these articles through the lens of knowing they have an agenda and set point of view, usually one that is radical. While this article explains the reasons that minority communities are seen as not caring about their children's education with lots of good reasons and validity, there really are those parents who truly don't care. I think the best lesson we can learn is that we need to take each situation uniquely and without any preconceived notions that the parents automatically don't care. We need to use our brains and figure out those who truly don't care, and those who appear not to care. From there, we need to try to make them care and be welcoming to them rather than pushing them away. We need to take their culture into consideration and make them feel welcomed rather than pushed out of their children's education. Also, while I agree that parent support is not the same as parent involvement, it is definitely a step in the right direction and opens the doors for us as educators to get them involved! Good post!
ReplyDelete