Author Archives: janielee

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Parental Responsibility and Involvement

Posted on May 9, 2011 by janielee

Janie’s part:

Through numerous research, it is safe to say that family involvement does make a difference. Even a little bit of family involvement can make an impact on a student’s daily life. Henderson, Mapp, Johnson, and Davis said that parental involvement is indeed a necessity. However, we had several class discussions on how some parents just do not have the time to be involved in their child’s education.

Do you feel like it is an absolute necessity and therefore should be a priority in a parent’s life ?

Researchers claimed that there were many benefits of parental involvement. It made an impact on a child’s academic motivation and has a great effect on the child’s ability to learn. Not only that but it helped them give an appreciation for learning. It also improved academic performance, improved school behavior, and decreased dropout rates. Attendances rates increased and suspension rates decreased. Before reading these articles and journals, I actually did not know how much impact parental involvement made on a child’s education. Seeing all the benefits that parental involvement can have, I think it should be a necessity. I honestly did not think parental involvement was necessary and did not think parents being involved would even make a difference. However, it does make a difference and parents should invest even just a little bit of time to be involved in their child’s education.

Also, researchers found out that it is extremely important to make sure parents feel welcomed. This sense of welcome actually has a direct effect on their involvement in their child’s education. Most of the time, language and cultural barriers can make parents reluctant to get involved in schools. In one of the New York Times article, they talked about a school in Jericho and how 30% of the school’s population consisted of Asians. Also, 70% of Asians made up the orchestra band. However, you couldn’t really spot too many Asian parents in a school concert or in a PTA meeting. Also, one Chinese mother said friends told her not to bothers with P.T.A meetings because “it’s run by a bunch of Jewish ladies”. I feel like the Jericho school did a good job in attacking this problem by luring these Asian parents to get involved by offering free English classes.

Misconceptions also was a big issue in the effectiveness of family involvement efforts. Misconception links to mistrust so it is important to identify and resolve the misconceptions. I agree that it is crucial in forming a good relationship between the parent and the teacher. I feel like it is both the parent and teacher’s responsibility to do all they can to give the child a quality education.

However, do you feel like one should be more liable and responsible when a child is falling behind? Teachers blame the home, while parents blame the school when a problem occurs.

There are suggested ways to increase parental involvement. This includes: schools helping parents with parenting, encouraging learning at home, keeping contact and communicating consistently with the parents, encouraging volunteering, and allowing parents to get involved in decision making.

However, do you feel like we are pressuring parents way too much to get involved? Or are these reasonable expectations from parents?

Sources:

http://csmstu01.csm.edu/st03/dwagner/new_page_2.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/education/12parents.html

http://www.indiana.edu/~safeschl/ParentInvolvement.pdf

–Janie

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Chapter 4 – The Ideology and Politics of the Common School

Posted on March 1, 2011 by janielee

Mann’s views on how proper education is the key to social order, really stuck out to me. He discussed his fear of growing social disorder. After an incident where someone tried to start a fire next to his hotel room, he wondered about how a person could do something like that and what goes on in his/her mind to do such an act like this. He decided that to eliminate a crime similar to this one, schools needed to train children at a young age.

I agree with Mann’s point of view. The government should play an active role in the education system, to a certain extent. I think if children are taught at an early age to be a moral person, I think it will be benefical for themselves and the society. Referring back to chapter 3, Thomas Jefferson talks about how schools should just provide the tools and not mold the virtuous person. In the previous blog, I had leaned more towards Thomas Jefferson’s view, however, Mann’s points on why molding a child through the education system, really stuck out.

I think that both the parents and the education system should play an active role in a child’s life. Many argued that the education system should just do their job and teach the basics (like english/math). And that teaching kids on how to be a moral person is the parent’s job. However, children spend most of their day at school and they are at the age where they are forming their morals, character, and beliefs. As Mann said, ” Schools are like the central instiution for the control and maintenance of social order”. If they don’t fix bad habits, bad thoughts, and bad characteristics at an early age, it is very difficult to change them when they are older.

” Men are cast iron; but children are wax” (p.84)

Wouldn’t it be harder for a middle-aged man to change his bad habits and bad characteristics opposed to a child?

Wouldn’t teaching children at a young age on what is right and wrong, prevent disorder before it happens as opposed  to allowing children to form their own characters and allowing disorder to happen and then fixing them (through the law/the police)?

–Janie Lee

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