Schools and Parents Effective Staff

Schools and Parents

Effective Staff Development on Cultivating and Maintaining Positive Relationships With Parents

In order to offer children the best possible educational experience, school staff members - counselors, teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators - face enormous responsibilities and take on constant challenges. Those school staff members - especially administrators - have many jobs to do and many hats to wear. One important task they face is establishing and maintaining positive relationships with parents.

In the June, 2006 issue of District Administration, the writer (Vogel, 2006) uses recommendations from Johns Hopkins University Sociology professor Joyce Epstein (founder, National Network of Partnership Schools) to promote the potential power inherent in a solid School / Parent (family) / community partnership. According to Epstein, quoted in Vogel's article, "There's nothing new under the sun..." with reference to creative ways schools can involve parents in their children's education.

The difference between the best strategies of the 1970s and 1980s - which was a period of the "comprehensive school movement" - is that in 2006, "this is very structured. We provide a lot of support to build the programs in a way that says this is a way to organize the schools," Epstein explains. According to Vogel's article, the "bedrock of the Epstein parent-community-school partnership is a focus on student achievement." Once the goals are established, "anything from raising math comprehension to bettering attendance rates," every program, project and activity at school (including fundraising for the football team and parent newsletters) should zero in on student achievement.

And the substance of that goal-building process is to first "...move beyond the ad hoc nature of most parent involvement efforts"; secondly, to "create an official body" to handle the work that the combined efforts of school and parents will set up; thirdly, to write a specific plan "with clear objectives, roles and deadlines"; and fourth, to "provide administrative support to staff the project at the district level." key to success, Vogel's article points out, is to "stay organized." An example of a well-organized school-family-community partnership group is found in the Naperville Community School District in Illinois; the team in Naperville is 23-members strong, meets monthly and "keeps its meetings focused and productive," Vogel writes. On the team are parents, school staff, school board members, principals, the superintendent of the district, and business representatives from the community; when you have a situation where district leaders sit and have face-to-face talks with parents and members of the school's community, "that means a lot," according to Nina Menis, the director of the district's community relations department.

This kind of organization and cooperation, ultimately, is not just in the hands of the parents or school teaching staff; rather, the energy for this kind of involvement has to be generated initially within the school's administration structure. After all, all in-house planning proposals and activities must eventually run through the front office anyway, so it makes good power-structure sense that big ideas about creative, productive coalitions with parents involved should have their genesis and momentum in the administration itself.

That is not to say teachers and staff and parents shouldn't generate good, workable ideas; but, when those ideas are presented to the principal and vice principals, immediate response and better yet, action, should be the guiding theme regarding those ideas and proposals.

What are some schools doing to enhance and strengthen relations between schools and families (parents)? In some cases, parents get help with child-rearing; in other instances, parents are hands-on involved with "school governance," Vogel continues.

The "Ten Steps to Successful School-Family-Community Partnerships" published in the District Administration journal, include the following: one) "create or identify an action team"; two) go get the money and administration support; three) train team members and provide guidelines so there can be no confusion or misunderstanding regarding boundaries and authority; four) "identify starting points - present activities, strengths and weaknesses"; five) "develop a three-year outline"; six) create a one-year action plan ("this is what we propose to do, and here is the time frame during which we pledge to get it done"); seven) "enlist" parents, students, staff and community groups in the planning of activities; eight) "evaluate implementations and results"; nine) "conduct annual celebrations and report progress to all participants"; ten) set in motion a comprehensive, on-going positive program of action.

For her part, Epstein has six "types of involvement" for school and parent partnerships; "Parenting" (aiding families with child-rearing skills and helping schools understand families); "Communicating" (keeping parents fully up-to-date); "Volunteering" (work to train and work family members to support school programs); "Learning at Home" (design in-home learning activities, such as homework, that is helpful for students and their parents); "Decision-Making" (bring families into decision-making processes through the PTA, and other parent groups); and "Collaborating with The Community" (bring together businesses and agencies that provide services for families and schools and keep open lines of communication).

And though all these ideas and structured partnerships and activities can be - and should be - very beneficial to schools and families, Vogel warns that "No matter how much you plan or how well you've reached out, sometimes the discussion may get rocky." In other words, somehow, some way, some time, there will be conflict and controversy, especially in "very large urban districts where groups of parents have very different concerns." But if schools and their leaders are ready, "it doesn't have to upend your program."

On the subject of controversy and conflict, an article in NEA Today (Flannery, 2005) offers advice on how administrations and teachers should deal with various kinds of parents. The job of training teachers to deal with various types of parents is that of the administration of the school. If needs be, training sessions can be set up (perhaps through the counseling department or a consultant psychologist) for teachers and administration, so that nobody in the school is shocked when the unexpected happens.

The article identifies five parent types, including the "Angry Parent." This parent has a "prickly hide and venomous bite," and Flannery suggests that even though that parent type may seem "threatening," she recommends not delaying "encounters" with this person. "Make contact" with this parent at the very first signs of problems with the child; for example, if there are poor test papers or discipline problems with the child, it is wise for the teacher to have been trained to immediately get in touch with the parent.

Once in touch, "try to enlist their help by asking questions that make them feel like partners," Flannery suggests. Asking a question like, "What can we do?" is far better, for example, than being pushy or scolding to the parent. And if the conversation or relationship with the parent gets dicey, then bring an administrator in to the parent-teacher meeting, but be careful the parent doesn't feel "ambushed or wonder if you lack authority."

Another parent type that Flannery writes about is the "Elusive Parent," a person that is hard to get in touch with over the phone, doesn't return calls, and possibly has a real fear for the teacher. A suggestion might be to "consider a switch to student-led parent conferences - attendance rates are often higher at those - and offer baby-sitting."

When that "elusive parent" does indeed attend a school event, "give them something new: new books, math games, great tips on getting homework done, or just a fun time with the school's bingo cards." Another suggestion is to call in the grandparents - they are, Flannery writes, "often eager to explore the school habitat."

Then there is the "Eager Parent" - one who will want to "yap with you frequently, and likely require a great deal of your time to keep happy and healthy." One suggestion Flannery offers - not just for the "Eager Parent" for all parents - is survey all parents at the start of the school year "to find out where they work, what they do for fun," and what special interests or projects they enjoy being part of. With that information in hand, "start newsletters" or "have a career day at the firehouse"; meantime, the "Eager Parent" can be enlisted to bake cupcakes for birthday parties and will likely help on field trips. Use your available resources, is the message in this article.

One other type of parent - and this is a very important parent especially in large urban areas where there are sizable immigrant communities - is the "English-Learning Parent." Flannery says that it is important for the teacher to learn something about that parent's homeland (so you can seem interested and have something meaningful to talk about in terms of getting acquainted); also, knowing exactly what that parent's language abilities are, is pivotal. Maybe the teacher could ask the parent to "share their folktales" in your class, or the teacher could even "make their culture and history a legitimate pare of your curriculum."

Whatever material is sent home to that "English-Learning Parent," be sure it is translated into the appropriate language otherwise it will be a useless piece of paper. And when the parent comes to an event held in the classroom, it makes good sense to have interpreters available, and "invite the extended family," which of course is a very welcoming act of kindness and good judgment. The other parent in this list of "types" is the "Busy Parent," who is a person with a work schedule that is hard to get a hold of, or plan meetings for. Get the cell phone number of parents like this, and the email addresses, and "continue to send home their children's work on a regular basis, including writing samples, artwork, and test copies" - and even consider taking digital photos of class activities and attaching those pictures to emails that go to parents.

On a more serious note, the literature on school administration duties as far as training staff to be parent-active and family-friendly offers an article called "Where's the Ministry in Administration? Attending to the Souls of Our Schools." Published in Phi Delta Kappan (Graseck, 2005), though the article uses the word "ministry" the author is not talking about spiritual issues, but rather, he is alluding to the "barrier" that seems to inevitably be erected between administrators and teachers.

The cycle, Graseck writes, goes something like this; "too many administrators misread the central purpose of their work and consequently stumble into a hole, tumbling helplessly downward like Alice in Wonderland." In the process, these administrators lose their ability "to connect with teachers," and in time, erect barriers, which in effect send a message to teachers which says, "My job is more important than yours."

Once the wall is in place, and the impression is given that the administrator thinks his job is more important than teachers' jobs, a "preoccupation with longevity" and "survival" comes into play. Keeping one's job, and keeping the wall (barrier) in place, are efforts that not only waste the talent of qualified, bright administrators, Graseck writes; they are acts of selfishness that "poisons the atmosphere in which he or she acts."

And moreover, these wall-building processes too often lead to a situation in which "the importance of [teachers] developing education-centered relationships with parents" takes a back seat to front office politics. It doesn't take a psychologist to figure out that a situation like that is unconscionable, wasteful, and unacceptable. If the purpose of spending taxpayer dollars on public schools is to give the children of the community the best possible education for theirs and the society's future, then petty behavior on the part of administrators - who are just concerned with hanging onto their well-paying jobs - cannot be allowed to fester in any school.

For his part, the writer, Paul Graseck, who is curriculum director for secondary English and social studies in the Hudson Public Schools (Mass.), recounts that he was appointed, "quite unexpectedly," to an interim principal assignment at a middle school. His predecessor had failed to reach out to the parents or the community, and the school "was in crisis." At a parent gathering, Graseck suggested setting up a "house calls" program, for willing parents; this "spontaneous offer" led to a series of meetings at parents' homes that "turned out to be refreshingly honest and substantive."

Those "house calls" allowed Graseck to "share my background and educational vision" and allowed the community to see the fact that a new principal was very willing "to reach out to the taxpayers who send their children to the school."

This idea has value even for administrators who do not need to put out fires in the community, nor do they need to reassure parents that the school really cares; even when things are going swimmingly between the school administration (and staff) and the parents it behooves school leadership to become a close part of the families of the children the school serves. Graseck's example shows why this "house call" project is worthy.

It was a colloquy, an event market by genuine trust in dialogue," Graseck wrote. "It revealed a willingness to be vulnerable." And, importantly, the conversation between parents and the school principal was "authentic." The discussions were "frank" and they lasted until 11:00 P.M. (when they were only scheduled to run from 7:30 to 9:30). "Griping" was permitted, he continued, but Graseck emphasized "the need to avoid getting stuck in the muck of whining."

His perspective after these meetings has proved to be so useful, he wondered "...how is it that such an enriching practice is not commonplace?" And again, this is a situation where meetings in parents' homes can bring about good communication, can become a regular forum for parents to have their say in their domains (away from the school, which is intimidating for some parents), and can become a way to build trust.

This is what the author means by the title of the article, "...Attending to the Souls of Our Schools." He quotes philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, who wrote that people are spiritual beings, "seekers reaching beyond themselves." And further, there is a need for constant input from parents, and communication to parents from schools; "The mind is never passive; it is a perpetual activity, delicate, receptive, responsive to stimulus," Whitehead explained.

Graseck believes that schoolteachers are "obligated to nurture this inborn seeking"; administrators should be expected to "lead teachers in this endeavor, both by precept and by example," he asserted. Of course, that is the point of this paper: that administrators need to provide the inspiration and leadership to make sure exciting, worthwhile things are happening as part of the learning experience in school for children, and that parents should be encouraged to become as much a part of that excitement as possible.

In concluding his article, Graseck writes that "truth seeking" is what teachers and students are really doing, and a school administrator's "ministerial capacity - to listen, comfort, support and inspire - is vitally important to the cultivation of an energetic learning community."

Another way of establishing a steady flow of good communication between the school and families has been created by the Kennebunk High School in Maine; their story is featured in an article in Education Leadership (Beaudoin, 2006). The principal of this high school began meeting on a regular basis with a committee of 11 students in the fall of 2005; together they were working on a "new governance structure," a way to "advance student voice" and benefit the school as well.