Parents as Stakeholders
It is imperative that our school systems reach out to all stakeholders to design an educational community that results in the best outcome for all parties involved. Although students are the largest stakeholder in education, the parents perspective is necessary to incorporate into our school systems, but often times it can be the most challenging perspective to utilize, due to conflicting schedules and the most effective ways of reaching out to our students family members.
Often times the involvement of parents can be overlooked due to the difficulty of getting their consistent thoughts and ideas, but much like our students, we as educators have a responsibility to effectively work with the parents to ensure that we are creating the best learning environment for our entire community. In Epstein’s, Framework of Six Types of Involvement, the author brings up two core concepts (decision making/collaborating with the community) that emphasize the importance and means of incorporating family members.
Decision making is arguably the most necessary concept that any good school system would have. A community should go beyond simply having parent-teacher conferences, there should be an active body of parents that work in tandem with the school committee and the educators, to ensure that goals are being aligned in meaningful ways that benefit the students. This may look like a Parent-Teacher Organization, or committee of parents that reports out to the school committee on an active basis. Having an active body of parents will be an asset to any school system, because there is a form of communication that is clear and consistent between stakeholders (ideally), this allows for policy to be enacted that yields the most effective results for students. When parents are out of the picture, it is much more difficult for educators and the administration to determine the accommodations that students may need. There is a mantra saying that teachers are the students best advocate in the classroom, but it is truly the parents that are the best advocates for their students. There are some barriers that can occur with this level of outreach, because not all parents or guardians are able to consistently meet, for instance, a student may have a single parent who is not able to juggle working full time, taking care of their child, and also meeting with other stakeholders. Does this mean that this parent and their child shouldn’t be represented, just because there is an empty seat at the meeting? Those who are not at the table, are the ones who cannot afford to be absent from the table. This includes students and parents, and with this barrier comes the opportunity of trying to figure out differents ways that these stakeholders can get involved (potentially this can be achieved through surveying, electronic communication, or changing meeting times to accommodate parents, not just policymakers).
Collaborating with the community is an incredibly powerful way of strengthening our academic world for our students. Whether this is achieved through inviting the community into our schools through creating special events/concerts, or if this bringing educators and parents together out into the community to create fundraisers or strengthening relationships between all stakeholders, community collaboration allows students to have the tangible connection that their community cares about their successes and their endeavors. A barrier that is visible historically is equity to access. Collaborating to have after school programs or concerts surely provides opportunities to students, but not necessarily all students. If we are seeking to build a community of belongingness and success, we must consider seriously the notion of who may be left out of certain events and how we can prevent exclusion from occurring. As a future educator, communication is key when working to collaborate on events to ensure that all community members are being represented both within and outside of our school system. Part of striving for equity can be achieved through recognizing passion and cultural awareness. People want to belong, and the best way that belongingness can manifest in our community is through embracing our uniqueness and diversity. For example, there may be a spring concert, and parents and educators could collaborate to choose a musical piece that might be native to someone's home country. Art is one of the most effective ways of bringing people together, and this could involve parents, students, and educators putting on a school-wide art show that is open to the public.
Parental outreach is not always easy to achieve, but regardless of the potential barriers involved, that should not hinder our efforts to work with our community, if anything, this should make us as educators more determined to ensure the best opportunities are available to all of our students.
