Just when you thought you had heard of all my wacky ideas, Matt Montagne came up with another brilliant idea to connect parents and teachers. We have set up a facebook group Parents as partners @ Facebook
Not a member www.facebook.com It is not just for kids but it sure can be about them.
Put the word out.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Egads. One more place to keep track of, read, update, comment on. I might as well have my legs amputated.
Really. Is this necessary? What’s it going to do *for* me? (Asking… . )
Thanks for you comment SSmith. I am not the greatest follower of Facebook and I really don’t want to chase another thread of discussion. BUT!
Facebook is a prime example of online social networking – working.
When grandparents follow their grandchildren on Facebook; when people stay connected with sports teams across the nation using Facebook; when people share their lives on facebook, something good is going on. People are communicating.
One of the key barriers to parent involvement is ineffective communication. Our premise is that if parents are not coming to the school building, then we need to search them out where ever they are to start the conversation.
Sign up and join in – help us spread the stories of effective parent involvement
Admittedly I’ve not used it. I refuse invitations. But I see it as a barrier to relationships, not a builder. If parents, children and grandparents et al are not talking to each other directly, with personal e-mails or telephone conversations if they don’t see each other, then this is just another distancer, in my opinion.
Come on in and get your feet wet. Never met Matt f2f. Social networking, as with you, brought us together.
it stands as another vehicle for those who wish to add another communications vehicle to do so. No one’s forcing compliance for heaven’s sake.
Lorna wrote that the key barrier to parent involvement is communication.
In part, I would agree but, I think the more predominant barrier to parental engagement is that the rules keep changing. Here’s an example:
When the NDP were in power in Ontario their Royal Commission identified clearly that parents need to be added as stakeholders and partners in the decisions affecting their children’s education.
Next gov’t legislated school councils, which at that time were rolled out very badly and amid the whole Bill 160 fiasco. Councils were opposed by the unions and parent groups claiming to be affiliated with the unions then.
Some boards took initiative and welcomed parents and the school council vehicle for partnership….too many others did not…and still don’t.
Parents at the time, who were well intentioned and interested in a true partnership were turned off because when push came to shove it wasn’t a real “partnership” that was being welcomed as much as it was a type of unconditional support – not questions asked.
Then came the current government. Let’s recap.
NDP – identified and supported parents as partners.
Conservatives – enshrined school councils in legislation and regs.
Liberals – the language has changed from parent “partnership” to “involvement” and again to “engagement”
with ever new term comes a different focus.
For the provincial body that oversees school councils and parental partnership/involvement/engagement that body needs to have advocacy teeth and be able to document and report on compliance issues, and be able to mediate on behalf of the parent partnership community.
In Ontario school councils are 10 years old. How are they doing? Do all school boards feature a school council option?
Do boards and schools include parents and school councils as partners in their successes? How does a school council know it’s effective?
Great comments. I see you and I have watched education during the same period of time . This is the point at which I talk about a training piece for parents and a willingness for parents to build a community for the benefits of all students.
By that I mean careful planning and specific goals for student learning. I know for a fact if you bring up the words “school improvement plans” some parents eyes glaze over. The discussion about student achievement comes to a grinding halt. There are very few parents who read the extensive information about education as you and I. When they say things like “I don’t have the time”, I believe they are actually saying this is not a priority for them.
Just want to be clear you are saying a provincial parent body overseeing school councils SHOULD have advocacy teeth, meaning that the current parent body does not. We touched on this topic last night on the webcast as Parents as Partners at edtechtalk.com/parentsaspartners.
We are in the process of building an area for parents and teachers to communicate how parents can be involved in their child’s classroom using technology. Please tune into the next webcast on Monday April 14th , 2008 at 9:00PM EDT (GMT-4)
Yes, I think that a provincial parent “anything” should have teeth and not be in place specifically to sell the government of the day’s programs, ideas, planks. That’s not helpful.
Unfortunately, and in my opinion the Ontario Parent Council failed for just that reason…it’s didn’t appeal to or support the folks it was in place to help.
Something I forgot to mention on the communication front is that often parents talk a great talk about needing better communication channels but they too have a responsibility to keep up their end of the bargain. It takes work and as you say, we hear plenty from parents who don’t have time to devote to what the school wishes for them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Too often in the attempt to be engaged in our schools parent forget two things: 1) to talk to each other, and 2) when they assume a role on a school council there’s a responsibility that goes along with that. Councils are statutory bodies yet few parents know what that means or how best to use it.