Conference Review
Due to a wide and complex variety of social and economic issues, students as young as six or seven years old in American classrooms exhibit behavioral and developmental problems. As a student teacher of young grade school children attending University School, I was able to attend conferences that directly addressed the needs of young students, their parents, and their teachers. At these series of informative conferences, I was exposed to the concrete realities of these difficult problems as they affect not only the student but the parents and teachers as well. Students often deal with unfortunate family circumstances ranging from verbal abuse and general neglect to physical and even sexual abuse. As a result, these first and second graders perform below their potential and beneath the standard capacity for their grade level. Lagging behind other students in their class causes these kids to act out and develop social and developmental problems. In order to improve these children's well-being, social integration, and psychological development, these conferences were designed to offer assistance and advice to parents and teachers alike.
Because of poor funding, school systems are forced to overwork their already underpaid teachers. Many of the teachers who spoke at the conference worked twelve or thirteen hours a day or more, five days a week. This work load leads to performance problems, which greatly affects their students' ability to learn. This only exacerbates the problems that many of these students already have due to their unhealthy family lives. As many parents attended the conferences, I was able to assess the general communication problems between parents and teachers. I noticed that parents frequently deny what the teachers have to say about their children. If a child exhibits behavioral problems, for instance, the parent often reacts defensively to deny responsibility.
Fortunately, I did witness many fathers attending the conferences. The display of concern and interest in their children's lives inspired me as a student teacher and I hope to see more parental involvement by both mothers and fathers in the future. Moreover, I hope to see schools that are better funded so that teachers are not only paid well but are offered more reasonable working schedules.
