Foundation 3- week 6- Parents as Partners
1. Consider your own experience(s) as a student or parent within the framework of “parents as partners”. How have you personally experienced parent involvement within a school context (either as a student and/or parent)?
As a child, my parents were always highly involved in my educations. They had a positive relationship with the teachers and kept themselves aware of what I was learning in school. I found this very helpful as they were able to help me carry on the learning at home.
As a teacher Candidate I have seen many parents highly evolved in their child’s learning. They would also keep themselves informed of schoolwork and encourage learning at home. These students often show greater interest in learning and greater improvement than their peers.
There are also many parents who are equally as involved but often has unrealistic expectation of their child. This can cause issues between the teacher and parent where the parent feel the teacher is not being accurate or unfair.
2. How might your prior experiences influence your own perceptions about parent engagement to help their children succeed?
I believe parent involvement is essential for students’ learning. As a teacher I would create a good form of communication with the parents. I feel it is important to inform parents about what the students are learning and encourage parents to discuses the school work with their child. This will help students to be involved in learning even after they leave school, helping them to consolidate and solidify their knowledge and understanding. I would also give homework that students can do with their parents such as math games, surveys, interviewing. This engages parents in their learning.
3. After reading the parent-related materials, in what areas do you feel capable and/or confident? In what areas will you require further development? How will you work to develop further your identified areas?
I feel strong in my believe of having parents as partners in educations. I feel confident in my ability to regularly communicate with parents’ weather through classroom website, remind, agenda or face to face. Creating a form of effective communication is vital to creating a good relationship to help students succeed.
At the same time I am aware many cases may arise were parents may be confrontational. I do feel creating an open and clear communication habits may help prevent difficult situations but there still may be cases where we have to talk to parents about difficult subjects. Personally I will find it difficult talking to parents about their child’s challenging as there is always a sense of accusation and defensiveness. I feel it is always important to look at the positive and highlight the positive first and be open to parents’ views and input. It is important to always ask parents how they feel and what we as teachers can do to support the student. It is important to always keep the students wellbeing at the center and always so a real sense of care when dealing with parents.
