Parents Involvement in Education Where

Parents Involvement in Education

Where were the parents? This is often the cry of the news media, other parents, educators, and school administers after something goes wrong in the classroom, whether that 'something' be of academic or disciplinary importance. But few of these disparaging voices proceed to the obvious next step of thinking, namely, that before something else transpires that is not conducive to education, surely the parents must be better integrated into student's educational life? Involving parents in classroom management is one key, clear way to do so. Parent's "extra hands, hearts, and heads benefit children -- and help keep you from burning the candle at both ends," says teacher Leslie Shalaway to her fellow eduactors. (Shalaway, 1994)

Classroom management through parental involvement in the form of volunteering is one way to encourage parents to become more engaged with their children's educations, and takes some of the burden off of educators. "Picture your students sitting in neatly aligned rows. Their eyes are fixed upon you as you speak. There is no scuffling. There is no noise. Seem unlikely? While many of us wish for perfect order, a smoothly running classroom is often elusive." (Gazin, 1999) One way to achieve a positive sense of discipline is to keep children interested in their learning, of course, through the own educator's enthusiasm and by incorprating different types of learning, such as kinesthetic and spatial learning. "Effective educators" says Ann Gazin, "experiment with alternative teaching methods to reach students with diverse intelligences." But if an educator learns best verbally or visually, this can be difficult. Having a parent come into the classroom helps bring new experiences into the classroom. The extra adult is not simply another physical authority figure -- a mother can show how measurements and fractions in math class can be used in cooking, for example. (Gazin, 1999)

Having another set of eyes not only helps stop problems when they occur, but parents can help their children find individualized solutions to discipline problems. The child and parents must work together to propose a solution to the problem. One child "who was so curious and eager, he was constantly interrupting both me and the other students," said one teacher "After discussing it with his parents, he decided he would close his eyes and count to ten before speaking out. I think the solution worked because he was part of the process." When students and parents both feel they have helped to establish the rules, chilren are more invested in upholding them and parents are more invested in making sure students respect the teacher's authority. (Gazin, 1999)

Children are often on their best behavior when more than one adult is present, especially a rotating series of slightly, but not completely unfamiliar adults like parents. "find out what parents do for a living and suggest they come in and talk about their jobs when you're studying careers. Stay-at-home parents can talk about the challenges of being a homemaker," is one suggestion to draw parents into classroom management. In a diverse or bilingual classroom environment, the presence of parents integrates school and family in a positive way, and encourages a better attitude towards learning. "Encourage parents from other countries to come in and tell stories about their native lands, share favorite books from their childhoods, talk about their hobbies, and so on." (Shalaway, 1994) Positive interventions in classroom management on the part of parents can also encourage parents of high-risk students, who might have had negative experiences themselves with teaching, to establish positive attachments to the school in a way that is helpful to the parent and to the student. "Some family stories...illustrated how providing help with rather than avoiding such issues led to both successful father involvement and improved family and child outcomes," even with estranged fathers. (MacAllister, 2004)

Teachers must take it upon themselves to set a pattern of parents becoming involved in the classroom from day one, beginning with holding an open house as soon as possible. "Several weeks after open house, send a letter home to formally kick off your parents-in-the-classroom program and include a list of volunteer jobs," including that of a classroom manager, "a schedule, and a sign-up sheet they can send back." (Shalaway, 1994) the perfect time to get parents into the habit of volunteering is when their kids first start school, not simply in terms of the year, but in the primary grades. A teacher can otate the less desirable jobs, so parents do not feel taken advantage of, adds one educator.(Shalaway, 1994)