Family and Community Engagement
Taylor Leach
Family and Community Engagement - Ofelia Garcia and Jo Anne Kleifgen
This reading focused on the importance of schools and families working together to accelerate students learning. Research shows that parent engagement leads to higher attendance, achievement, and better attitudes (Caspe 2007). I want to use this blog post to discuss what teachers can do in their own classrooms in order to incorporate community into the classroom.
I did some research outside of the reading and I found this school in Baltimore that is completely focused on community and families. This video goes through every thing that this school does for both the students and parents. It is incredible what they are doing for their students. After you watch it, I would love to hear your thoughts on the questions below.
* WATCH THIS VIDEO *
What did you like about what they did?
Could you use any of this in your own classroom?
Would you change or add anything to how they involve community?
Inequities in School: Stigmatization of Language
Parent Education Programs aren't working very well for both parents and students.
"Although parent education programs are valuable, some focus almost exclusively on what parents do not know: Many of these programs have taken the "let us fix them" approach, assuming that parents lack the requisite motivations and skills to support their children's education." (Garcia & Kleifgen)
The book talks about the parental support that is vital for their children and they break it down into three different categories:
Three Categories of Parental Support:
1. Physical Environment
- Economic and Social Resources
2. Emotional and Motivational Environments
- Encouraging
3. Interpersonal Interactions
- Parent Dedication
Question: How can we get parents to be involved in the learning process, without making them feel like they lack the skills needed?
Solutions:
- Equal Partnership between communities and the schools.
- Learn about the different cultures in the community.
- Incorporate community into the classroom.
These solutions are all very broad for a reason because I want to read about what you all think about the solutions for getting parents involved, incorporating community into the classroom, and resources to learn about culture in the community. Your responses can be any of the questions above and/or providing solutions.
Thank you! (:
Hi Taylor! Great blog I wanted to focus mainly on the video you provided for us to watch because i feel like it was a great visual to have to accompany the readings for this week. What I liked the most about this community school is that they invited parents to their morning meetings every day and that they had someone who could say the announcements in Spanish. They recognized that their population was 80% Latino and have people who can really support these families through language on their team. I think that was an extra step that I haven't heard of many schools taking. On a classroom level i think just having resources even if your school does not provide them school wide if you know your student is struggling with food scarcity providing their families with resources to help them is good, but you have to have a relationship with them beforehand so that it they know you're not coming form the viewpoint that they need "fixing" or that they are not "good enough parents". Lastly the only thing I could think of adding to this school is maybe having like a community night that would almost mimic the morning meetings they have but be a time where parents can come and do activities with their children, but overall i really liked many of the things this school was doing and it didn't seem like it was coming from a place of we need to fix you but just realizing what the children's families are in need of and helping them along the way.
ReplyDeleteAlexis,
DeleteI am so happy that you enjoyed the video as much as I did! That school is such an amazing example of what community and parent engagement should look like because it benefits the students, parents, and even the staff. I hope to teach at a school like this one day and if anything start an amazing program like this. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I would love to hear more about how you could implement a community night at a school you will teach at one day!
I appreciate this blog so much! The extent to which these parents are invested in their children's learning coupled by the efforts of the school are inspiring. I spoke to someone who teaches in Florida who helped develop a garden project with their families, after realizing that many of the families worked in agriculture. Developing a survey of parent interests and examining the demographics of the community would be a way to start developing such a project. After watching my own students survey parents to determine what prevents them from volunteering, I discovered that flexibility is needed; evenings are preferred to avoid conflicting with work hours.
ReplyDeleteI also like how it did not appear anyone was judgmental.
I agree with you Mary Ann! i really liked the fact that it didn't seemed judgmental at all but more that they genuinely wanted to help the families of their students so that they could learn. I also agree because many parents things like morning meetings that this school does may not be the best option for other schools but I liked that they also had an after school thing that parents could come too with their children. It gives parents options in how they can be involved with the school instead of giving parents one time frame and then saying they don't care when they don't show up because of work.
DeleteMary Ann,
DeleteI loved the idea that you proposed about surveying parents in the community. I think this could be very beneficial for the school. This is a great start to creating programs that will actually benefit the students and parents in the community. Do you have any other ideas that would help get parents involved?
I found the video to be very eye opening because it shows the true potential a school can have. I really liked how they brought in parents every morning to listen in on morning announcements and I liked how the school provided dental care, groceries, and after school care to and for the families. When the teacher was talking about how her students learning increased after getting dental care didn't really make sense to me until she said that her students were no longer focused on the pain going in their mouth and so they then could focus on the lesson being taught. It made sense to me when I realized that children usually are only focused on one thing at a time and when it comes down to learning about math or the pain in their tooth, they will focus on the one that is effecting them more.
ReplyDeleteTorri I agree with you! This video needs to be shown to the school I did my observation in because they are almost the same demographics and state on their brochure that they want to be a resource to their community and support their needs, but severely fall short of that. This school shows with dedication and an open mind that celebrates heritage while providing basic needs, a school can be such an asset to the overall education of the entire community. I really have a hard time wrapping my head around how long it might take to find all the resources a school would need and the right people willing to donate those services, but if you are willing to believe it can happen then you can certainly find a way.
DeleteThat was really an interesting video. I liked when Principal Gaither talked about how he has Maslow's hierarchy of needs posted in his office. I'm sure he is constantly reminded each day that his student's need the basic needs: food, water, shelter, rest, and health before they can conduct any sort of classwork. I've heard of numerous schools providing food pantries, however, I thought it was especially noteworthy that they have quarterly grocery giveaways. There is a huge food desert issue and schools could help fill that void with these giveaways. It absolutely makes sense that basic needs must be met before students can actually perform. This has opened my eyes to some of the programs that my school offers with free snacks and pack lunches for athletic events.
ReplyDeleteI think the model in the video is largely contingent on parent participation. You need to have solid coordinators and parent support at the top to establish a partnership such as this. Perhaps, after parents learn to trust the school and these additional offerings then the partnership could reach a level like in the video.
Jacob,
DeleteI am so happy that you were able to connect this video to experiences going on in your own community! Also, I completely agree with you about the Maslow's hierarchy! I think that the principal was right to focus on the basic needs of the students before jumping right into the academic improvement part of the situation. Taking care of the whole student is very important, especially when it comes to parent participation and community.
Taylor, great post! I think a key understanding of family/community engagement is understanding the 2 key aspects that make a school. Teachers can play a great role in the communication with parents to keep them updated on things going on in the classroom. School leaders can help parents understand ways to get involved so they don't feel as though they can never come to school events or volunteer. I think oftentimes parents want to be involved but it may be work schedules that they can't be as involved as they would like to be.
ReplyDeleteI want to be a principal within the next few years and through my grad program, I have learned various ways to get community involvement and the common theme is communication. It takes for the school to communicate in order for community partners and parents to know what is going on. Building those relationships definitely aid in the better bond between the school, parents, and community.
Aleshia,
DeleteThank you so much for bringing that up! I think you are going to be an amazing principal one day! Also, I totally agree with you about the communication and relationship building piece because bringing community and parent engagement into the school isn't going to go anywhere without genuine relationships!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThrough my work at IUPUI I work with a lot of community schools, and actually went to a National Forum in Baltimore on community schools. I was new to the community school world, and was truly amazed. I wondered why all schools couldn't be that way. What I have learned is that when students and their families can get all of their needs met, not just the student's educational needs, they truly to feel like a part of the school. They feel like the people in the schools care. And this helps the students to do better as the reading and video you shared speaks to. I think that this video demonstrates very well the power of community schools: "shelter, food, love, security". It makes such a big difference. I know that schools that are not community schools may struggle with getting the resources needed to be able to provide wrap-around services, but it is possible. It takes people that care and will go the extra mile to seek funding, and partnerships that will help. What is most important though, is that the schools are getting information from the community about what they feel like they need instead of going into the community with their own agenda. Thank you for sharing the video and for your great blog post!
First let me start off be saying great blog post! I feel that the best way to get parents involved in the learning process of their student without making them feel like they lack the skills needed by not making them feel like they are bad parents for not being constantly involved because things come up sometimes. Also, helping parents stay involved would be to have them sign homework logs and keeping them informed by giving them choices about ways to stay involved.
ReplyDelete