We read and discuss the issues of education and engaging parents.
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Why
Engage Parents?
An ongoing challenge for every educator is to
develop and enhance skills that will offer students the best possible learning
experiences and opportunities, in school, at home, and in community settings.
It is therefore essential that every effort be made to ensure that ongoing and
effective communication and partnerships be established and maintained with
parents.
Key Findings about
Parent-School Partnerships
Here
are two studies that offer insight into the benefits of parent-school
partnerships:
Researchers at the University of Oxford found that
children whose parents participated in the Peers Early Education Partnership (a
program geared towards supporting families of children ages 0-5) "made
significantly greater progress in their learning than children whose parents
did not participate." These strides where found in children ages 3-5, and
included progress in vocabulary, language comprehension, understanding of books
and print and number concepts. In addition, these children also exhibited
higher self-esteem in comparison to children of non-participating parents
(Evangelou & Sylva, 2003).
What Parents Want To Know
In order to effectively engage parents, it is
important to know their specific questions and concerns with regard to their
child's learning and transition from home or day care to other educational
settings. An article written by Pianta and Kraft-Sayre (1999) titled
"Parents' Observations about Their Children's Transitions to
Kindergarten" offers a number of insights:
·
While
two-thirds of the parents viewed their child's transition into kindergarten as
generally smooth, nearly 35% of parents mentioned a disruption to family
life" - marked by having difficulty adjusting to a new schedule and not
having a playmate available for a younger sibling.
·
53% of
parent responses contained positive feedback regarding their child's ability to
adjust well, the benefits of prior experience to school setting, proactive
transition planning by the school, positive qualities in the teachers,
communication with the school, and the quality of the curriculum/program.
·
Negative
feedback shared by parents reflected the child's emotional/behavioral
difficulties during transition (e.g., "not handled well by the
school,"), family adjustment difficulties (e.g., sleep/work schedule),
reluctance or refusal of child to attend school, unrealistic expectations of
the school (e.g., curriculum too advanced), and communication difficulties
between parents and school personnel (e.g., lost notes, missing money, skipped
meals, hygiene difficulties)
Understanding parents' concerns and being proactive in
addressing them (or circumventing potential problems) is a positive way to
engage parents and establish productive home-school relationships.
Engaging parents
According to Webster's
New World College Dictionary (4th ed.), to "engage" is
"to draw into, involve, to attract and to hold." Most parents want to
be engaged in their child's learning, and many are able to establish and
maintain ongoing and productive communication with teachers on a regular basis.
Some families, however, must deal with challenging circumstances (e.g.
financial difficulties, separation/divorce, health issues, language/cultural
difference) that complicate their ability to reach out or respond to school
personnel.
NOW practise the words from the text:
the best opportunities
ensure that communication is established
progress in vocabulary, language comprehension
higher self-esteem
concerns with regard to their child's learning
smooth transition
ability to adjust
negative feedback
challenging circumstances
