Module 6 Community - Swiger

As a middle school teacher, the question of “How do we get parents and the community involved?” is certainly on the agenda each school year.  There seems to be a commonplace statement, “Oh well, parent involvement decreases as children get older”.  I believe it’s   important to start the conversations in our schools about how student success is related to parent/community involvement.  In my observations, a misconception is that parents want their children to be independent, so it’s the school’s responsibility to make all decisions. Also, some educators do not want parents involved because they are too busy to deal with “another project”.  Teacher leaders can play a major role in responding to this acceptance/attitude by researching effective ways to foster and create school community relationships. The teacher leaders will have to exam their specific context (school and community) and adjust plans accordingly to meet needs. Providing a school environment that is transparent to the community, and one that openly invites, supports, and maintains community relationships will have the opportunities to achieve an active learning community.  

Typically, the type of involvement I’ve witnessed, is not closely related to learning at home or decision making.  Although important, the involvement currently taking place is more of a mundane, routine, or  expected involvement.  For example, some parent/teacher organizations or school improvement committees often work in isolation and make choices about fundraisers, school parties and festivals. In my opinion, we need to stop making everything about money. Many parents are turned off from attending meetings, because they just don’t want to do another fundraiser.  Some schools have business partners that sponsor or provide some funding for projects.   But, what is lacking is the framework described by Epstein and Salinas(2004), “By implementing activities for all six types of involvement, schools can help parents become involved at school and at home in various ways that meet student needs and family schedules. Input from participants helps schools address challenges and improve plans, activities, and outreach so that all families can be productive partners in their children's school success” (p.13).   Administrators and teachers need to commit to building these relationships, and invite, ask, and encourage parents to be contributors and partners. We shouldn’t judge parents based on economic status, nor educational accomplishments. All parents should be offered the opportunity to become involved. Also, we need to let parents know we need them, and education is joint effort.   Genzuk (1999) states, “Many educators continue to devalue the household knowledge of non-mainstream children.  Households are often viewed as units from which the student must be rescued, rather than as a reserve of knowledge that can foster the child’s cognitive development” (p.10) Investing the time and energy to understand and recognize cultural differences in our students will not only help teachers design effective instructional strategies, but demonstrate to parents we value their skills and knowledge.   

As an educator, sometimes I think we feel that we must implement a huge, expensive project to be successful.  However, starting on a small scale, and maintaining an ongoing learning community may make more sense in specific situations. Using existing research and policy as a guide will enhance, and provide reasonable expectations for your learning community.

Epstein, J. & Salinas, K. (2004). Partnering with families and communities. Schools as Learning Communities, 6(8), 12-18.

Genzuk, M. (1999).  Tapping into community funds of knowledge. Effective Strategies for English Language Acquistion: Curriculum Guidefor Professional Development of Teachers Grades Kindergarten through Eight.  9-21.