The familiar is comforting to us. We don't fear what we have experienced before, the known. When we as parents visit our kids' school, it's no wonder that we feel that the schools are fine. Most of us attended the same type of schools; the setting is familiar. The rooms have desks with attached chairs, notebooks, textbooks, crayons, pencils, blackboards, etc. -- perfect images of how school was when we were kids. The way schools communicate with parents is also the same. They send us a notice on paper in our kids' backpacks or on a notebook, and even that is exactly like how our parents got the notes.
What's wrong with this picture?
Our kids today have more access to information at their fingertips than we ever did, but the schools have done woefully little to keep up with the information revolution. Why are teachers still giving assignments that can be solved by one simple Google Search? We are so used to the concept of school being the same as it was in our youth that we don't notice, don't think about, how desperately it needs to change. I am not saying that schools should be inundated with the latest technological gadgets, but that the basic premise of our education system needs to change.
We need to get out of our kids' way. We need to let education be driven by the kids' needs, not what we think schools should look like. Parents need to embrace a vision of schools of the future and push to make that a reality. We need a parent revolution. Are you with me?
Many parents struggle with the notion that they can change the system. It is hard to imagine that one person can affect the system in a positive manner. It is especially hard to envision change when many other like-minded parents choose to abandon public schools instead of fighting to make them better.
Here are some things each one of us as parents can do to help improve the schools:
Every parent needs to actively engage and ask for change. We simply can't be bystanders anymore. Our children's future is at stake.
The post originally appeared on Parentella's blog.
Follow Aparna Vashisht on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@parentella
In my opinion and experience, the decline of the two parent family unit and lack of expectation or standards for parenting is a significant driving force for the failure of our education system. Parenting covers many parts of a child's life and not just education, but parents have responsibilities for their children to be prepared for the school day so teachers can do what they were trained to do. And yes, that does mean parents must raise a respectful child so they will be a respectful student and adult some day.
Parentella, thank you for being one of many to start the conversation. I am an advocate of helping families to get started back at their child's school and spend a day in the life of an educator or support person to experience school again. www.thesafeteam.com It is a passion of mine to see the lightbulb come on in many parents lives on how valuable their role is in the life of their child and education.
you are most welcome Scott! Aparna
Shinichi Suzuki .. (the well known Japanese music educator on attending an American PTA meeting) from his bbook Ability DevelopmenÂt from Age Zero.
The principal of the school greeted the mothers and asked for their continued cooperatioÂn in the home education of their children. Then the mothers thanked him and agreed to cooperate. After listening to the exchange , I began to think that these people were a little crazy. The person who plants a seed in his field and cultivates it is the cultivatorÂ. Parents are cultivatorÂs. ... it seems that the main and auxiliary roles are reversed.
I don't know what the right answers are, but while this information is helpful to be prepared and to participate in my daughter's education, it is also scary, daunting, time-consuming, emotionally fraught, and may not be rewarding in the end. You really have to be a person willing and able to deal with all of that.
In many ways, I'm beginning to see that an engaged parent at home prepares a young person to respond well to most external teaching environments. We may not know how to insert ourselves into the external school process or we may feel like we aren't getting very far, but we have hours and hours of opportunity to teach our children a great foundation at home (not homeschooling, just life schooling) so they can handle - and do well with or rise above - what's out there.
Maybe there are lessons to be learnt from Magnet schools?
The key was we all communicated with intention and took actions without us as parents having to do anything in addition to the damn conversation in the first place. I think schools have gotten so big they have strayed away from their purpose. It has gotten to bogged down in "admin" and created bs busy work-like testing.
The lesson is for schools to stop creating hurdles. It is the schools responsibility to be the best buy for our dollars. What other business gets to suck and still get paid? NONE.
Private schools are not the answer to public education, and some of them get paid (a lot) to suck as well, not to mention public charters like SEED that have an outrageous per pupil expenditure.
I live and work in a major metro area where I see the good, the bad, and the ugly with regard to our public schools, private schools, and the growing number of charter schools (backed by the "celebrity reformers") and with over 20 years of experience I am very convinced that we will NOT see the kind of school improvement that we need unless parents (and local community members) become much more engaged and involved. Parents need to be at all school board meetings questioning every decision.
Teachers -- those on the frontline who have to comply with policy in order to keep their jobs -- cannot do this alone. Parents must become much more engaged.
As an educator I do not expect all parents to be knowledgeable of and to understand all of the current research on the most effective classroom instruction and school structures -- but I do expect all parents to be able to be more active, to ask more questions, and to be more vocal about what is happening locally.
Technology is expensive and budgets are tight, so don't expect state of the art technology in most public schools.
If parents want to be "engaged", then get to the school and get engaged. You don't need an invitation and school staff should not have to bend over backwards to get you interested in the education of your own child.
Since parents have such varied ideas about what education should be, I don't know that a "revolution"--as popular as that term is--will go very far without consensus.
No, please don't be a "problem parent". Be an involved, informed parent. Causing problems will alienate school staff, not encourage them to work with you. And get educated about education law, not just reform law. Many schools irritate parents when they do what they do because of compliance with laws, not by choice.
Most teachers, principals, and counselors would welcome parents, so get to your child's school and start working together.
My point with google search is that there is search now. I agree--just because it is out on the net doesn't make it accurate. However, don't you think we should teach kids how to search better in that case?
Paper alone costs schools thousands of dollars each year--that is what is wrong with paper. I know that we must make communication equally accessible for every parent but surely we can start an opt-out system? My point is we need to get smarter and that schools can't lag in tech adoption.
I agree with you fully that parents must take charge and must get involved--they can't wait for schools to bend over backwards or an invitation. We don't have that luxury.
1. Yes. Question the testing. But not because kids aren't standard. Instead question because standardized tests used the way they are now encourage low standards. We have classrooms full of children who can ace standardized tests and text, facebook and google at the same time, but they struggle with problem solving.
2. No. Do Not Be A Problem Parent. Be an engaged parent. There is a difference. Sometimes those assignments that seem pointless to you serve very real purpose. If parents truly feel teachers are giving pointless assignments, by all means they should engage the teacher in discussion. But often You Are Wrong. Also, backlash should never be a problem. If it is, involve others.
3.To truly understand how regulation and reform laws affect you, you must engage with your student's teachers on a regular basis. Engage is a positive term. It's the opposite of being a Problem Parent.
4. YES! But being engaged is something very different from being an over-involved parent. Parents need to let their children grow and learn and discover the right answers over time and through trial and error, but if parents are there every moment, that kind of learning can't happen. You are absolutely right, though. Teachers are not babysitters. They are highly qualified individuals who have dedicated their lives to making sure your children get the very best education possible.
5. THANK YOU. Teachers are under constant attack right now, and it's heart-breaking.
Your points are excellent. I agree--standardized tests are used to encourage low standards and that is why they must be rejected. I am a parent and I seldom raise my hand and ask a question because I worry that I will be seen as a "problem" parent. I have heard numerous stories from family and friends that are afraid to speak of or worse that their child suffered as they spoke up. The issue is that if no one speaks up, then nothing will change.
Yes, teachers are under attack and I feel that is unfair. We all need to work together and alienating teachers isn't the right way to do it.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. I really like the response to #1. :)
Some parents do volunteer in the classroom with things like photo copying, stapling, grading homework. I don't think that is enough though. Unless people see how the changes in Education are directly going to affect their kids' future, they won't become active participants and we need active participation.
And once again, the author is dismissing ALL schools. How can you be so sure that EVERY single school is not reaching kids?
And to adrianrichards: The politicians have hamstringed education by forcing standardized tests on the public education system. You make it sound so simple, but there is absolutely NO room anymore for teachers to deviate from what the ivory tower dictates should be taught in the classroom. Yet it is the teachers who are blamed.
Do you have any idea how frustrating it is? As a teacher, I'd love to include more technology, etc. By your very post, it is evident you have no idea how tied we are now to curriculum dictated by state offices with no educational training.