Three Wishes for the New School Year
As public schools open across the country, I have three wishes: One, that most parents and most teachers will be open to working together. Two, that most teachers will accept that parents are their children’s primary educators. And, three, that most parents will accept and embrace that responsibility.
This is, unfortunately, a tall order. Some parents have gotten accustomed to playing second fiddle, meaning they are reluctant to get involved. As the same time, some educators truly believe that they are children’s principal educators and thus treat parents with disdain. While in public forums many professional educators may describe parents as “our greatest asset” and “invaluable partners,” how most schools actually treat parents belies their words. In my experience as an education reporter, many administrators and teachers hold parents in low regard, and their behavior and policies reflect that. Perhaps that’s an inevitable consequence of attempting to elevate education to a high-status profession. “After all, you wouldn’t expect a heart surgeon to consult with a child’s parents before replacing a ruptured valve and saving the child’s life,” the thinking goes, as if the work of educating a child were the equivalent of complex surgery. It’s not brain surgery; what it is, instead, is a team effort.
Many schools make parents ‘outsiders’ in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. There’s the once-a-year “Back to School Night” and perhaps a “Parent Involvement Committee’ or a “Parent Advisory Board” that meets occasionally with the Principal. Many schools expect parents to hold bake sales, auctions and fundraising drives, but that’s not treating parents as partners in their children’s education. Unfortunately, it’s the CONTINUE READING: Three Wishes for the New School Year | The Merrow Report
Big Education Ape: BACK TO SCHOOL: A parent’s guide to K-12 school success -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/08/back-to-school-parents-guide-to-k-12.html
