Mexico's new push to improve schools: Get parents involved
Parent involvement hasn't traditionally been part of the culture of education in Mexico. Now, programs are emerging to change that, with encouraging results.
OCTOBER 29, 2016 MEXICO CITY—Luis Reynoso, a father of two, says he’s always tried to get involved in his children’s education: attending meetings on school-improvement projects and pitching in to provide classroom snacks.
But when his youngest daughter’s elementary school invited families to attend a nine-week pilot program to learn about parenting and school participation, he realized his past efforts barely scratched the surface.
“The workshops really woke me up,” says Mr. Reynoso about Let’s Change the Course, organized by Mexicanos Primero, a leading education advocacy group here. Each weekly session touched on different parenting themes ranging from the concrete – like setting up a dedicated space at home for kids to do homework – to the less tangible, like the importance of self-esteem.
“I realized there’s a lot more I can be doing for her education that will make an even bigger difference, like helping motivate her or having an adult home when she’s back from school or making time to read together,” Reynoso says. One of the most helpful sessions, he recalls, focused on what a child should know academically in each grade and how to talk to teachers about his daughter’s performance.Levels of parental participation in Mexican schools have long been low, experts say.
Reasons range from commonly held beliefs that a child’s education is the school’s domain to few opportunities or tools to get involved beyond school cleanup. In some parts of the country, a mother's or father’s own lack of education can play into a sense that they have nothing to contribute. And even in private schools, where there might be more adults with professional careers, participation often lags, with some parents viewing their tuition bill as their educational contribution.
There are also cases where the schools themselves see parents more as a complaining nuisance than a potential partner in a child’s education, discouraging communication between families and schools.
But parent involvement is key to student – and school – success. A 2012 study of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries found that promoting higher levels of parental involvement can increase student performance, as well as helping reduce performance gaps across socioeconomic sectors.
The importance of family participation is something many nonprofits, education advocates – and recently the federal government – are starting to home in on in Mexico. Part of Mexico’s 2013 national education reform underscores the importance of parents playing a more active role in their child’s education, encouraging a boost in parental-participation programs.
And independently, programs are emerging, including Let’s Change the Course, which is Mexico's new push to improve schools: Get parents involved - CSMonitor.com: