This morning after dropping the kids off at school I was wondering.
I wonder if schools really want parents to be responsible for their children's education? Some schools are more vocal about this kind of thing, but I'm wondering if our public (and even private) education rests on a few unspoken assumptions. What comes out are mixed messages. Something akin to the guy who is waving you toward him with his left hand and waving you off with the right.
I wonder if schools rely on us not being involved, no matter how much they encourage participation?
I wonder what they mean when they say they want us to be involved?
Here's my guess:
1. Involvement means you pay $5 or %10 and join the PTO and show up to our PTO meetings.
2. Involvement means volunteer for organization class parties, school events, parking lot duty and the walking track. You know... the non-education stuff.
3. Involvement means make sure your kid does his/her homework.
4. Involvement means getting your kid there on time and picking them up on time.
1. Involvement does not mean that have input into what the school day actually looks like and how a classroom is run. After all they are the experts and know that it is developmentally appropriate for a 9 year old to have 10 minutes of recess a day and gym once every three days. etc.
2. Involvement does not mean helping shape the how we define success. Experts and our president have mandated that "No Child Left Behind" be the way of the land and as a result teachers are forced to teach to the test or they will loose their jobs.
3. Involvement depends on keeping parents uninformed on information that might frustrate them or lead them to believe they are not responsible for their kids.
4. Involvement means the same things it means for our kids. Fall in line. Do it our way. You have no alternative. The school leaders know best.
On one hand, come help us.. be responsible parents.
On the other hand, we are the experts and we know what your child needs better than you do.
Still with me??? Then wait for my next post...
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI think comparing school parent/volunteer participation and youth ministry parent/volunteer participation is somewhat comparing apples to oranges.
However, I think answering the parent involvement question depends on if you are part of a suburban school or urban school, both have a different lens.
Suburban schools tend to have lots of parents who want to be super involved in the school (many moms fight over who is going to be the homeroom mom). Overbearing involvment can sometimes lead to parents trying to dictate what should go on in the classroom, leaving the teacher with her hands tied, and no freedom to lead the classroom.
Urban schools tend to have less parental involvement, leaving the teachers with virtually no outside support of students and the education process, any interest or involvement of parents or guardians would be a stress relievers for teachers in these settings. If parents of urban schools would do some of the things you mentioned, then that would be a welcomed start.
Thus, when I hear the plea for parent involvement, I hear more than just the specific assumptions you made. While, there maybe some undercurrents of that, what I think they are hoping for is for parents to be aware of what their students are learning, helping them process their homework, be personally involved in their educational development. In other words what they get in the classroom is not enough, it must be reinforced and embodied by parents at home. To me it means coming to school events, attending parent teacher conferences with informed questions, attending school events, knowing our children's friends, and their parents.
While the assumptions you mentioned may be true on some level, I don't know that administrators or teachers are trying to subvert parents involvment.
Hey Dino,
ReplyDeleteA couple things.
I would agree on a few points.
Teachers and most administrators are not trying to subvert parents and their involvement. They are simply cogs in a greater machine. By the way we really like both our boys teachers this year at a local union elementary school. They have been our best experience at the school and are wonderful folks.
My point is that the education system (system being the sum total of behaviors, policies and expectations) doesn't really promote parental involvement in the most meaning areas. The way it's structured it simply can't as you alluded to. However I'd suggest that the teachers hands are just as tied by administrators as they ever would be by parents. Though it would be completely ridiculous to expect teachers to be at the beck and call of parents etc.
I would disagree with your generalization about suburban schools. I've never been involved with an urban school so I can't speak to that. I will say that I'd consider union to be a suburban school and there is no one fighting to be homeroom parents in most grades. The school one one hand is desperate to have parental participation, but on the other makes it very difficult to participate.
I would agree that churches and schools are different animals. My point is that the learned behavior many parents bring to churches is learned in schools. Specifically in middle school and high schools where parental involvement is even more minimized. Where coaches really don't want parents involved etc.
I'd also point out that this isn't really a burning issue for me. (the playground thing is I suppose) but the rest of this is me just wondering out loud and making observations.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI think you are spot on about administrators tying the hands of teachers. My wife is pressured with all sorts of classroom management type things that it impedes the primacy of teaching.
I realize that my generalization of suburban schools was just that. Our experience has been that parents (though not literally fighting) do compete to be homeroom mom. (My wife says it is similar in Bixby where she teaches.) There is a plethora of parents at the school at all times.
My comment on urban schools came out of my limited connnection with some teachers and administrators at Rogers High School, that the generalization seems to be true there.
We too have had a great experience in our school setting. My point was that perhaps parental involvement might have a different lens depending if you were in a suburban or urban setting.
Thanks for the discussion!