Research on Parent Engagement

Research: Parent Engagement in School Communities

This is my post where we´ll be sharing my information about parent engagement. This information will be updated according to the new information we´ll be acquiring and finding, above all from public schools.

Introduction: Parents, educators, administrators and students in school communities.

It´s well known that the educational process begins in the family, at least this is what most of us think, and continues in school. All this process needs both parties to achieve full development. The school must be clear about the importance of the participation and collaboration of parents in the education of their children as well as the need for an open relationship to perform their function in a complete manner. Sometimes the role of the parents can be confused with that of the teachers, and it is noted that not all parents and teachers have the same educational goals.

WHAT is Parent Engangement?

There are parents who feel comfortable in school, have trusting relationships with teachers, and there are others who approach the school less confident and disoriented. There are some educators who are somewhat afraid of the interview because they feel none.

Both parents and teachers, or in other words, both the family and the school have partly common and partly complementary roles. The roles of the school are related to pedagogical learning, teachers choose the most beneficial pedagogical method, content, goals,... for their students.

The roles of parents cover more, they are the first educators but not the only ones. It is true that parents know their children and know how is their temperament, their reactions and emotions. Therefore, it is essential that the teacher listen to the parents, take into account their situation and know their family reality to be able to reach the student's process, just as the good doctor is right in his diagnosis when the patient gives him the data that they personalize and transform the patient in person.

WHERE and WHEN?

Parent engagement can be done in many ways. Most of the parents have jobs and other responsibilities that impedes them to be present in school during instruction time. However, current schools have a flexible schedule that is not fixed only during the "mornings". Most schools have "afterschool" activities and other events programmed by the same school or other institutions or associations linked to the school. Therefore, parents can find a place and a time to participate with their children.

Home is another place where parents can colaborate from, as well, by offering their help and support in many ways. There are some programs like HIPPY in HISD who offer home support for Early Childhood students in the district.

Figure 1: HISD Participation from their Memorandum in 2017.

WHY? 

Why is too important to colaborate with parents and educators?  It would be a disaster for those who do not have to know the pedagogy and methodology of the sciences or other school subjects to do the programming of it/them. It would be unfortunate that those who are going to improve our health, prescribe what is best for us with no knowledge of health or having a degree as a physician. Parents and teachers are the two pilars that welcome, encourage, help, accompany our students and support them during their successful lives, both of them are indispensable in this amazing vital journey.

Figure 2: English Language and Literacy CIRCLE subtests 2017 from Memorandum in 2017.

Figure 2: Spanish Language and Literacy CIRCLE subtests 2017 from Memorandum in 2017.

These figures show the results when combining parents and teachers´colaboration in the Houston Independent School District with the HIPPY program for their young students. As a former HISD Dual-Language PreK teacher in the district I was a witness of the success of this program involving parents in their children´s education, especially among Latino families.

How?

Here you can find several recommendations and suggestions that we believe can help you, as parents, and your children, our students, since we share the same vision: their success in life through education.  We are convinced that participation is the most appropriate way for teachers and families to validate their competence as parents and teachers mutually.

The allowance of participations is complex but we can find help and support in your school. Most districts provide a "FACE" (Family and Community Empowerment) worker who can help you with all this process. There are many papers and documents to fill in and do some registrations. Be patient, please! All this task is for the safety of our students, staff and other school community members. We recommend you to be informed in your school as soon as the school year begins, since all this process can last for several weeks or even one month´s time in some cases.

After being admitted and approved, visit your assigned counselor or FACE worker to introduce you to the activities and other institutions/associations participating in the school community. Parental involvement is an important factor in their academic success. Most schools have PTO or PTA  that can help you as well with your active participation in schools.

Communication and values: improving our relationships in school communities.

School-to-Home Communication Infographic

Communication is going to be the base of the succesful academic performances of our students. This communication should be based on a daily interaction with students-parents-educators, because all of them are responsible for the success of their process of education and lives.

The improvement of communication processes between parents and teachers is probably one of the greatest needs that our educational system has. The benefits it brings to the students as well as to the teachers and parents. The parents, through their active participation, get involved with the teachers´ tasks, discover that they are really important in the education of their children; they can feel more comfortable communicating with teachers, discover how their children work at school and, finally, parents acquire skills that help them to take advantage of tutoring with teachers.

By involving parents, it is possible for teachers to gain a greater understanding of the difficulties that prevent parents from getting involved in their children's education and, from this understanding, they learn strategies on how to reach all parents effectively, such as active listening, understanding of defensive behaviors and conflict resolution.

Teachers feel less isolated and schools are encouraged to develop activities that encourage very varied forms of parental involvement. The children-students discover the shared vision expressed by teachers and parents. The children-students do not use the information they transmit to their parents and teachers in a biased way.

However... after agreeing that participation is very beneficial, why is it so hard to carry it out? Why do some parents and teachers perceive each other as a source of conflict, rather than as a source of help?

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qawp93xyQJI/maxresdefault.jpg

First, we must bear in mind that participation involves communication and this is a source of conflict too, that is, when a person, whether a father, a mother, teacher,... expose their ideas, necessarily they are confronted with the ideas the others have. And we usually have a tendency to interpret communicative conflicts as a "problem", and not as a starting point to put together (parents and teachers) our possibilities to respond to the demands of our children, our students.

Secondly, for participation to take place it is necessary that parents and teachers have a feeling of belonging to an educational community (being a part), but to participate, it is also necessary to be aware of the rights and duties that parents and teachers have and also to be aware that the benefits and costs are shared (having part) and, finally, we must be able to develop motivation for the development of specific activities (take part).

Third, we must bear in mind that, in the communicative process, we see and hear in a selective way based on our needs, motivations, experiences, interests, personal expectations, education and other personal characteristics. And this way of perceiving reality is different in parents and teachers, and that is why it can generate conflicts.

Fourth, communication between parents and teachers has an important emotional burden: let's not forget that children are the most important people for their parents.

If we do the same things as before, we will get the same results. Einstein.

I would like to conclude by reaffirming that the teachers are doing an exceptional task to respond to the needs of their students, that parents are willing to do "whatever" for their children, and that we need each other, we need to be able to establish mutual commitments that benefit our children, we need to be able to validate each other as what we are: teachers and parents. So go for the FACE/PTO/PTA member of the school and participate, it's never too late!

Educational celebration is given when those hands come together and celebrate. 

Other related articles and information:

• http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/17/parenting-in-america/
• http://blogs.houstonisd.org/news/2017/06/06/hisd-face-is-now-the-family-and-community-empowerment-department/
• http://www.pto.org/
• https://www.pta.org/
• http://www.faces-cares.org/
• http://neatoday.org/
• https://parents4publicschools.org/
• http://blogs.longwood.edu/parentinvolvement/
• https://peopleforeducation.ca/topics/parent-involvement/
• https://tomorrow.org/speakup/speakup-2016-school-to-home-communications-september-2017.html

by
Dr. Nicole Andews
Dr. Neelu Tajani
A.R. Ms. Xuan Li
A. R. Mr. Francisco Usero Gonzalez