Problems of Contemporary Education in Perspective

Parental involvement in a child’s education is obviously a key ingredient in the success or failure of a child’s educational development. As we have discussed in class, the home is almost, if not more so important than the school building. Parental involvement is not just going to cheer for your child’s soccer game or going to P.T.A meetings or going with your child’s class on field trips. More important than any of that is showing encouragement to your child by surrounding your child with educational opportunities.

Even President Obama said in his most recent (or second most recent state of the union) that education starts at the home! No matter what a school can do, if the child does not have parents that care for the education of their child, they will not succeed academically. It is not a fact, it is simply my theory that is supported by my life experience.

The question I have to anyone who cares to respond is: what can be done to educate parents on the opportunities and activities they can participate in to help shape their children’s education and effectively, their knowledge? Second, what do you think is a more effective way of showing support: Simply showing up for P.T.A meetings (and not contributing but also showing support by being there) or surrounding your child with educational resources and outlets outside of school (ie; books, museum trips)? By the way, I’m not saying that one is a negative – I do believe that both are positives in the support of a child’s education – but I do want to know whether people think one is more important than the other on a larger scale.

I enjoyed reading this article because I think it focused a lot more on parents involvement in a child life and their education. I personally agree because no matter what goes on a child’s life at school, he or she will always seek comfort and encouragement. However, we know that not all parents do that or can do that. Aside from children’ own effort, one can tell whether their parents are involved in their studies to help them achieve these goals. However, I think it can be distinct through the places where these students are brought up in. We all can say that children who come from stable homes have a greater chance of succeeding compare to those who don’t. Parents who does not struggle would be able to provide more opportunities and resources for their children. However, to base the  parents’ involvement with their children on the amount of income they make is false. Parents may give their child anything he or she needs, but if there aren’t any interaction between them, it would not matter. Although income does play a role in a child’s life, encouragement and letting your child know that you are there for them are what make a child improve. When I was a child, I lived with my mother and my two older brothers. I attended schools where resources was limited and my grades were not up to par compared to other students. Since I came to U.S when I was 8, I was at a disadvantage because was not prepared like other kids who were born here. I was not able to get tutoring because my mom couldn’t afford it. Having to constantly struggle to learn English and get used to the lifestyle definitely made it difficult for a 8 year old. Although my mother could not help me academically, she would try to get involved in my school life by talking to me. She was the kind of the person who I would go to whenever I seek help. Most of the time, all a child really needs is someone they can turn to to get them back on track. Therefore, Parent’s involvement is very important. Most importantly, they are the people who can help shape their children’ future. Do you think that parents know that they are at fault even though they always put the blame on teachers?

Aside from parents’ involvement, teachers’ involvement is very important as well. Simply because schools are children’ second home. Students see their teachers 5 days a week and it shows that the impact teachers have in their students’ lives. However, there are very few teachers who are willing to put effort in their teaching. As we have discussed in class previously, teachers are losing the drive to teach because they are being viewed as unimportant. This is a big problem because it loses a child’s motivation and the importance in education. The article suggested that it really changes the mindset of a teacher if he or she understands the backgrounds of his or her students. This will allow the teachers to adjust and come up with strategies that will increase the child’s learning. However, teachers are not willing to because they just see their profession as being a job and making a living. In my past experiences, I’ve encountered teachers who were not enthusiastic when they were teaching, making the subject very difficult to learn. On the other hand, there are teachers where students can feel the passion a teacher has just by the way she acts when she’s teaching. Sometimes a student can fall in love with a subject that he or she would of never thought it would happen. This shows the influence and the power a teacher has. The reason why I am a math major was because all my previous math teachers loved what she did and it made me excited to learn this subject. Before I’ve decided this major, I wanted to become an accountant. However, I changed it because the professor who was teaching the accounting course did not seem to be enthused at all. I think no matter what subject a teacher teaches, whether it is history or marketing, A teacher has the power to make it exciting and help students decide their future careers. As I mentioned before, being a teacher and being a stock broker are weighted differently in this society. The differences are shown through their salaries and opinions of the government. With the budget cuts and the reliance on funds from businesses, do you think the value of a teacher will continue to fall?

This article was very interesting because it focused more on home issues, and the problems that could be fixed outside of school doors. One thing that stood out to me in the beginning of the article is that not only did the author say that parental support was important, but that encouragement and expectations play a large role. I personally thought this was crucial wording because when I went through school I had a single mother with multiple jobs, so a lot was left on me. I always knew that I had to do well, and I did. Sooner or later my mother came to expect good grades of me, and this worked out well for the both of us. I like the fact that the article mentions parents such as my mother who are viewed as “uncaring” or the like, but are really just unable to participate at every little thing. I would like to say that that fact I knew my mother supported me, and expected a great deal from me, led to my academic success even though it was not the “traditional” manner of supporting a child. The fact this author takes this motivation into consideration when analyzing these studies is smart and observatory, because it could be just as beneficial. I was curious about how the class feels about this. Obviously everyone in the room has had some sort of academic success due to the fact we are all in college, but I wondered what level (or style) of parental involvement did they receive? Do you think this directly contributed to your success? I personally did not think my mother contributed to academics up until recently when I was old enough to put all my past behaviors in perspective.

Another thing about the article that stood out was one small, but very strong, statement in the conclusion. “When any one of the system’s parts is missing or out of
sync, the entire system falters.” This sums up our entire semester. We have argued about funding, parental involvement, location, playgrounds, food, equality, and the list goes on and on. In the end one thing can throw off the entire system, and if I had to pick one at the top of the list it would be parental involvement. This is not to say that babying your child and reviewing their homework everyday for their life is the key to success–far from it. What I am suggesting is that most lessons, morals, and skills in life can, and should be learned from the parents. If parents are sensible enough to instill good life lessons and habits than their child can mature to be a better and more well rounded person. Plain and simple. Anyway, I was wondering if the class agrees with this standpoint, or do you feel that socialization, and institutional lessons are more important?

This reading was very interest the section on Misconceptions Among Stakeholders have caught my attention. Basically it’s talking most about the relationship between teachers and parents and how trust is the most important thing between the two parties. The question arises to ask if families are serious indulge in their child education. The Misconceptions about when, how, what, and if families are meaningfully engaged in their children’s education continues to be a predominant issue in fostering

School-family connections. The misconception comes from between teachers and parents: teachers and families hold about each other’s motivation, practices, and beliefs. When there is an atmosphere of mistrust, it is difficult for educators and family members to create effective school-family partnerships to support student learning. I think that parents rely too much on teachers to be the one that’s responsible for educating their children. It’s truth that teacher are an important fact in a child’s learning because children spend most on their time in school learning out of a 24 hour day children spent  between 7-10 in school.

Parents need to not see only rely on teachers; they have to do their part to. I look at it this way, parents can plant the seed on educating their children and teacher would help care and tend the seed. But parents and students are responsible for how that seed flourishes. An example is given that family members often state that teachers or schools do not want their involvement or input, yet an overwhelming majority of families trust teachers to give them needed information. I don’t think teacher don’t totally wants parents input, it just how much of an input parents want in the class. Teacher would expect criticism but they don’t want parents telling them how to run their classroom. Parents for eg if your kid is not doing well in school, parents need to be the one to council with the teachers and see what additional help can be given to improve their learning.

 An article on Teacher-Parent partnership: http://www.pbs.org/parents/goingtoschool/parent_teacher.html

Parent involvement is to the single most influential role in a child’s life, let alone in their education. As a child grows they obtain a sense of tradition and then express them in their own ways. Children often mimic their parents growing up because most of the time the child wants to be just like mommy and daddy. But when it comes to education, parents play an even larger role. It is very important for the parents or parents to be supportive of the child’s education and to take an active role in what goes on in the classroom. Studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between the involvement of parents in the child’s education and how well the child does. Even though now it is hard for parents to be fully active because in this economy both parents are often working parents, just going to a PTA meeting or checking their child’s homework and making sure it is completely and handed in on time helps. Now children are often left with the responsibility of organizing their work on their own, and more often then not they do fall behind because they do not have the proper time management skills. Children are not ready to do this on their own and need the guidance of a parental figure to guide them in the right direction. If not they procrastinate and watch tv and play on the computer and do not do what they have to do.

The idea of parental involvement is for the schools and parents to come together to make sure the child reaches their potential. Often times parents and teachers do not see eye to eye on the methods of teaching because they both see the child/student in different ways. Many times if the parents does not agree with the method the teacher is using the parent will either stay away from the work and now help the student, or try to teach their child in a different way. This just winds up hurting the child overall because they are not getting the consistency needed to absorb and grasp the information fully. Parents and teachers need to be able to communicate if there are any issues because they have to remember the child/students wellbeing is comes first, not their own.

I also found it very interesting that Caucasian students were often more well prepared then a student from any other ethnicity. Also students that did not come from a broken home and had both parents were also more well prepared. I can see that because the probability of a parent helping the child has doubled with having two parents. But the fact of the matter is, whether a child has one or two parents, and whether they are white or black or of any other ethnicity, parents need to become more involved in their child’s education.

I think parental involvement is extremely important for the academic performance and success of students. As the studies in the article prove, parental involvement has a significant effect on students academically. I didn’t find this surprising at all and I think many other people wouldn’t either. I think it’s well known that parents play a huge role in their child’s education. I think parents generally rely too much on teachers to educate and support their child’s learning. They often feel it’s not necessary to get too involved in their child’s education as they may feel that it’s primarily the job of teachers and schools. I do understand that in this day and age it may be more difficult for parents to spend quality time going over their child’s schoolwork or becoming involved with their schools (PTA, meetings, etc.), especially as it is typical now for both parents to be working, but I still think parents should find some time to spend with their child and have more influence over their education. As the article mentions, “Students of all ages benefit academically, emotionally, and physically when an adult is actively involved in the day-to-day events of their lives, including school activities”, and I think this is very important especially when you consider that it is difficult for students to get quality one on one time with teachers with class sizes being so big. This is where parents come in and where they fill that void by becoming involved and offering that much needed support. It makes a significant difference.

One study that I found particularly interesting was the one on socio-economic background and teacher perceptions of parental involvement. I found it interesting how teachers value family involvement when family actions fit their ideal definition or when their contributions are visible to the teachers. I have a slight problem with that. I understand why teachers would want parents to cooperate and work with them in a sense but I think its ok for there to be some form of disagreement especially if parents have a problem with what or how their child’s teacher is teaching. It is only important to keep in mind how the child/student is affected. I don’t think it’s fair for teachers to require that parents agree with everything they do but they definitely should work together in ensuring that the student gets the best education possible and is learning and improving his/her performance. I was also surprised by the assumptions the teachers made when they determined the quality of a family’s involvement by socioeconomic or educational status. There are many parents or families that are not well off or may not be highly educated but are still heavily involved in their child’s education especially if they want their child to have a much better future for him/herself.

Is it possible for parents to become too involved in their child’s education? Would/could it be detrimental for their child’s education and academic performance if they did so?

Parental involvement has shown to be really important in the development and learning process a child goes through, and I completely agree. In the previous EDU class i took, we talked about a parent’s responsibilities to teach his or her child the basics upon entering pre-school. Are parents supposed to teach colors? alphabets? shapes? numbers and etc before he or she admits his or her child into kindergarten? Most people would say yes, but what if those parents do not speak English. How can they take on those responsibilities when they too have no knowledge of the subject matter? Parental involvement at a young age is crucial to how a child grows up because they will internalize that experience and project it onto their children in the future. However, some parents are too busy to pay any attention to what a child is learning at school so they have no way of getting involved. Studies show that parental involvement shows an increase in students grades and confidence. I remember a professor told me that the difference between scoring high on SATs scores and scoring mediocre is that those who score higher have frequent conversations with parents. It seems pretty striking how little it takes to help a child succeed. Its not even like those conversations revolved around vocab/math studies, just regular talking about the child’s day.

Parental involvement could also be applied in schools. Similar to the conversation we had in class, I think parents should get involved in the classroom but it is very hard to know where to draw the line. Of course parents should be able to have a say in how and what is being taught in school because the material can conflict with religious or even personal beliefs. But how do we decide when it gets intrusive and when are parents stepping overboard? It’s a sticky situation because some argue that parents aren’t involved enough, and then when they do get involved, they get criticized. Personally, I feel that not all parents need to join the PTA or get involved in the school. Once they do, they almost become a part of the faculty, which is not okay. I remember children in elementary school who had parents that were in the PTA, and it just seemed they always got treated better and were let off easier when they got in trouble. But I agree that parental involvement makes a child smarter. My cousin is very involved with her child, who is 4 years old, and his education. I saw them the other day, and he recited the vowels to me! I didn’t learn vowels until i was like 2nd grade! and he’s four years old… Of course, my parents do not speak any English, but still. Parental involvement in schools and in a child’s life only has many benefits, so it should be highly encouraged. So, should we try to regulate parental involvement in homes to better learning? and how can we help those who have careless parents?

The School-Family Connection gave an overarching understanding of the dynamics between school and family influences and how their positive or negative interactions directly impact students. There were two outstanding findings in this collection of data which I believe are the most important factors that influence students’ school and family life. The first one is the misconceptions among stakeholders (p.11). Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions and preconceived ideas among those involved in the school and family settings. As the article notes, “misconception links to mistrust” and this mistrust causes a significant obstacle in communication and understanding. School administrators and teachers, often times, have very specific notions regarding their students’ family support system and when these expectations aren’t met they are unable to adapt and create flexible programs or support sources for their students. Likewise, many parents or caretakers feel that school administrators and teachers have rigid responsibilities which do not meet their child’s needs. The lack of communication diminishes the possibility of positive interaction between those involved. Essentially, this is the core foundations for any human interaction. Without this very basic factor there can never be a healthy relationship between those involved in a student’s educational development.
The second crucial factor is resources that support student progress, especially infrastructure. Apart from having leadership development, intervention programs and outreach strategies (p.13) ,it is imperative that the infrastructure is well organized and flexible enough to these new developments. Without having a structure that allows free flow of communication without the posing obstacles (such as bureaucracy) then the parent-school relationship will not flourish.

Time and time again multiple studies and my years of experience with children have shown that parental involvement is a detrimental factor in a child’s development, especially when dealing with their academic achievement and behavior. One of the greatest benefits of having an adequate amount of parental involvement and encouragement is that the child’s self-esteem and their standards on what is expected of them increases. If a child does not have anyone setting up any guidelines, this may put them under the impression that no one is preoccupied over their academic standing. Although this is not the case for every child, this is a notion that runs through the minds of many children. Though some parents, especially in urbanized cities, claim to not have enough “time” to be heavily involved in their child’s academics there are multiple ways in which they can positively contribute to their success. Simply motivating a child after knowing that they have a spelling test or congratulating them after receiving a high test grade or influencing them to work to their best abilities when they perform poorly are small signs that indicate to a child that their parent is aware of their accomplishments.

Undoubtedly, while factors outside of schools such as a family’s economic standing, demographics and culture contribute to a student’s scholastic performance, schools that foster a constructive environment for both children and their parents provoke a sense of reassurance. This school-family relationship allows for teachers to openly speak to parents about ways in which they can become involved to support student learning. Their been cases where schools limit family participation within a school, where parents are not allowed to shadow their child for a day or  the school does not offer enough parent-child workshops; what is a parent to do in this sort of case? Since most children spend up to 70% of their waking hours in school, shouldn’t it be equally important that teachers also motivate children since they are around them more than their own parents?

Parental Involvement definitely is a necessity to help students with their education. Studies have shown that family members are starting to “catch on” to the importance of establishing a personal role in their child’s education.  Many times education especially reading is left upon the teachers and programs at the schools either because of business with work or other functions. And because of that parents are not as involved with activities in the school or with the teachers.

According to one study within the article, families defined parental involvement as who works with the teacher and continues learning activities at home. The goal is to have parents partner with the schools and the teachers to help with the child’s education. Everything should not just be left up to the teachers just because that is what they are certified to do. I thought it was very interesting that no matter the background of the child, at 9 months they all demonstrate the same academic potential. However, White children are FAR MORE prepared for school that children of other cultural or ethnic populations. I thought it was also interesting that studies do prove that children living in a two-parent home have done better in school than children living in a single parent home. But its not so much that that there are two parents there that makes the difference but it’s having someone that will take the time and the effort to help and be with the child.

Some other factors that may interfere with the parents being involved with their children’s education are socioeconomic status, self-efficacy and language. Even though there may be certain barriers and obstacles that keep different family members from being involved in theirchildren’s education, it’s going to take much time and effort and sacrifice on anyone to make it their personal role regardless of background or barriers. In order for school and parent partnerships to work, both sides have to address the complex and difficult issues such as bias, the needs of the child (not just academic), and effective or ineffective strategies.

Some other sources that address the issues of parental involvement are:

The Effects of Parental Involvement on Minority Children’s Academic Achievement

http://www.sagepub.com/vaughnstudy/articles/dair/Jeynes.pdf

When Everyone Is Involved: Parent’s and Communites In School Reform

http://inpathways.net/6parents.pdf

The Relationship Between  Parental Involvement and Student Motivation

http://www.springerlink.com/content/u2785263m72r2152/