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Collaborative Partnerships With Parents
It is particularly timely to take a fresh look at the relations between families and schools, because we have all become acutely aware of the current call for school reform and improvement which implies that home and school commit to a stronger fuller communication effort.
We need to promote positive parental involvement:
-
Parents
need to be seen as valuable resources when gaining insights into the learning strengths
and needs of individual students
Parents are usually more ready to listen when
they are listened to
They are
far more likely to understand the restructuring imposed by general principles, policies
and concerns if they feel their child has been treated in a personal way as a human being
rather than a case or a category.
Parents
usually want to be informed; they want to feel that they have valued input and influence.
Exercise #2 - Reflection - Parent Involvement
Many educators are on the record for parent involvement, but does the rhetoric match with the reality?
Respond to the following questions and e-mail your answers to me.
How much parent involvement are you comfortable with in your class?
How much parent involvement are you comfortable with in your school?
Which roles that parents play do you feel are helpful?
Which roles do you think are obstructive?
Are your attitudes about parents consistent with
your educational philosophy?
E-mail me
Families and schools need to work in a co-operative way that encourages the child's learning and maturing. For parents of exceptional students, the legislation provides for them to be involved in the process.
Regulation 181 - Part
1 SS 5(1) - entitlement of parents to participate in all discussions
Part 111 - Section 13 - expanded Parent Guide
There is no one single model for schools to adopt for working with parents. But for schools to work well with parents there is evidence of a common set of principles.
Every
aspect of the school climate is open, helpful and friendly.
Communications with parents (whether about school, policies and program
or about their own child) are frequent, clear and two-way.
Parents
are treated as collaborators in the educational process, with a strong complimentary role
to play in their children's school learning and behaviour.
Parents
are encouraged, both formally and informally, to comment on school policies and (on some
issues), to share in the decision making
The
school recognizes its responsibility to forge a partnership with all families in the
school, not simply those most easily available.
The
principal and other school administrators actively express and promote the philosophy of
partnership with all families.
The
school encourages volunteer participation from parents and the community at large.
(Source - "Beyond The Bake Sale" - A.T.Henderson, Car. L. Marburgers, T. Ooms)
Exercise #3 - Reflection - Parent Partnerships
When implementing new instructional techniques in your classroom in conjunction with the IEP it is important to interact with the parents.
Identify 3 ways you would go about informing/involving parents of these changes.
Describe a real situation you've experienced and explain what resulted.
M1
Assignments