Voice Ends Involvement Ends

This post is in response to a tweet by @Mrwejr  about an article by Jane Steffenhagen from the  Report Card in the Vancouver Sun about parent involvement in school/education. It is about a school board not dealing with a parent advisory group because it did not have representation from enough schools. Should there be qualifications on representation? This is more from an Ontario perspective.

The Ontario Education Act provides guidelines/outlines how School's Advisory/Community Councils and Board's Parent Involvement Committees are to be structured and function. There is flexibility on the composition/representation on the councils/committees. The Act does state that the majority of members must be parents and what constitutes a quorum. I guess it would be within the by-laws and procedures to determine how the councils/committees would determine minimum representation and how it would function below this level. Does it still have a voice?

On School Councils do two or even one parent give voice? Why is there only one voice? Are there other avenues to provide input? Is the input appreciated or just participation show dressing? Ever School  and community is different so every school council is going to be different. Are school councils a voice or action? Each school council must find their way. A voice is a voice but is it representative?

Parent Involvement Committees (PIC) are officially new to Boards although they may have existed previously in some boards in another form. PICs must be clear on their mandate and not to create another level of bureaucracy. Boards can determine how parent representation is determined on the PIC. Is it by selection board wide or by regions? Are members elected by regions or schools? Or is it who volunteers? Are these members to represent their own views or those views of their school or region? Ultimately it should be what is best for all. As with school councils when does representation/voice not be representative? Why is their no representation/voice? What Are PICs To Do?

There is no secret success that works for all School Councils and Parent Involvement Committees. Each has their own strengths and visions. The sharing of best practices and ideas can only help parents that want to be involved. I will leave you with this post by @SheilaSpeaking 'That's It I'm Done'

Don't worry I will be returning to this topic and related ones in the future. This is an area that deserves much attention.  Robert

Questions on Engaging/Involving

I will apologize if this blog jumps around or repeats thoughts from previous blogs or seems like a rant. I am writing about parent involvement in education, again.

Where do we start? Parents. Teachers. School. Board. Ministry.

Are these the kinds of Parent Involvement (school) we want? Ivy League Minded Mom Sues Preschool & Fast Tracking to Kindergarten . Is Preschool Shouldn't be Like School more to your version. Parent philosophy on schools and learning vary greatly and so do their thoughts on parent involvement.

The first question one should maybe ask is "What role does the parent want to play in their child's learning/education?" Are they supportive or inquisitive? Does the parent trust that the teacher/school is doing their job properly? Does the parent trust that their child is interesting in learning? What drives the child to learn? Depending how these questions are answered is a starting point of engaging involvement. Does the parent have available time?  Does the parent even have enough understanding to assist the child in education/learning. Involving Parents in School - The Family Path highlights and initiative taking to entice parents to participate.

The second question should be "What is the communication between the parent/child and the teacher/school?" Do they know what is being taught? Why is it being taught? How is it being taught? Is the only communication when the report card comes and the parent/teacher interview? Who should initiate this communication, the teacher or the parent? Whether the child is underachieving or overachieving a line of open communication can help to solve problems or potential problems. Timely dialogue about assessment (not testing) is imperative. Is the parent welcome in the classroom? Do they have the time? When one knows what is happening, it makes things easier. Having Parent Support

When one talks about involvement at school or board level it sometimes refers to input on school/board policies and procedures. This is one of the roles of SACs/SCCs. Don't assume all the facts are known. Explain the reasoning or rationale behind why a decision/policy is being made. Do parents feel comfortable with this level of involvement?

As for the Ministry I hope they continue to develop and promote parent involvement. Human Capital

I have posed a lot of question here and I could have asked many more. Like many people I am trying to wrap my head around them to get the answers so that parent involvement is something all can do and want to do.
Parent Involvement - What's Your View

Parent involvement will always be a topic of mine as we try to make the best use of what each of us has to offer.

The Value of Quotes

A few quotes of interest from my Twitter Favourites List. Some people just have the right words.

DoTheMathBooks The Dennys 

The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher.-Elbert Hubbard #quote

cpaterso cpaterso 

"Seek first to understand, not to be understood." (Bob Kegan)

TDSB_Chris Chris Spence 

The 5 R's of successful classrooms: responsibility, relevance, rigor, respect and relationships

jerridkruse Jerrid Kruse 

Sometimes quoting others only serves to demonstrate that you haven't actually thought about the ideas for yourself.

joe_bower Joe Bower 

The greatest evil school ever committed was to convince children to hate learning. #abed #edchat

remi_collins Remi Collins 

Share info so parents can help their children, share what you are doing so they can help at home. Parents want to be involved#edcampvan

mikeroberts1973 Mike Roberts 

Leaders must ask themselves, "Am I building people, or am I building my dream and using people to do it?"

tomwhitby Tom Whitby 

W/o knowing what jobs the future holds, we need to teach kids the skills to learn. Life will be their school, if they have skills. #Edchat

Principal_EL Salome Thomas-EL 

Teach children not to fear failure...but to embrace it... own it....learn from it...grow from it!

AngelaMaiers Angela Maiers 

RT @TutorSolutions: A great school community must develop where administrators, teachers and studnets all make valuable contribution #edchat

TDSB_Chris Chris Spence 

Leadership is not popularity, rank, privilege, title or money. Leadership is about influence, responsibility, results and integrity

The Right to Blog

“@joe_bower Is there a context where administrators, school board trustees & policy makers should ever NOT want teachers to blog about education? #abed”

 This is one of a series of related tweets by Joe Bower that got me thinking. Who should tweet/blog? Who has authority over if and what someone tweets/blogs? What should one tweet/blog about? Are there ethics, guideline &/or standards within your profession about tweets/blogs?

I am going to tackle this from my perspective as a school board trustee. I have been on twitter for just over a year and blogging for just over 6 months. I have been amazed at the information and knowledge I how obtain through being on twitter. This has come simply from the message of the tweet or from the accompanying link to an article, report or blog within the tweet. These posts are composed by parents, teachers, reporters, professor, principals, administrators, trustees, superintendents, ministries, boards, committees or organizations.

I began blogging, A Discovered Passion for Education, when I decided to run as a school board trustee in last year’s Ontario’s Municipal Elections. I thought what harm would there be in using the emerging social media as a campaign tool. My blog consisted of various post about issues in education and an occasional my view of things. Basically I was free to write/blog as I wished within standard/accepted practices. After being elected I questioned whether I would continue blogging or not. I decided to continue but thought (knew) my freedom was now maybe limited. You ask why, read (e) & (f). The Ministry of Education Education Act states the:

“Duties of board members

218.1  A member of a board shall; (a) carry out his or her responsibilities in a manner that assists the board in fulfilling its duties under this Act, the regulations and the guidelines issued under this Act, including but not limited to the board’s duties under section 169.1; (b) attend and participate in meetings of the board, including meetings of board committees of which he or she is a member; (c) consult with parents, students and supporters of the board on the board’s multi-year plan under clause 169.1 (1) (f); (d) bring concerns of parents, students and supporters of the board to the attention of the board; (e) uphold the implementation of any board resolution after it is passed by the board; (f) entrust the day to day management of the board to its staff through the board’s director of education; (g) maintain focus on student achievement and well-being; and (h) comply with the board’s code of conduct.”

Uphold & entrust. Can I blog against the Board’s decision? Can I blog questioning the procedures of the staff? Is this the correct forum for discontent and/or discussion? I don’t believe so. I may state the facts of all sides of the issue and let my readers decide.  One of my goals for blogging was to inform my readers, which I will continue to do.  As time goes on and the learning curve becomes the knowing and leadership curve, I may/will tackle those contentious issues and take that path less ventured.

I don’t feel someone has the right to tell me that I can or cannot blog and what I can blog about. I set my own standards.  What about teachers? Does the teacher have an innovative idea? A new philosophy? What about superintendents? Parents? Students? Trash talking is unacceptable.  Anything that commences, engages and advances discussion can be and should be  ‘put on the table’.  Creativity, an open mind, the ability to see all sides and the right to disagree are the cornerstone of advancement. 

People have so much to share don’t stifle it.

Parent Involvemnt IV

Whether I follow a certain person or do the articles just keep coming but to me Parent Involvement is trending.

This posts links some sites that show some differences between Parent Involvement and Parent Engagement. A simple explanation of the difference is that Involvement is involvement in the school environment and Engagement is the school/student learning environment. This Michigan Department of Education  article highlights some factors on parent involvement. Parents Need to be Participants not Spectators . No one will deny that Parent Involvement Aids in Student Achievement .

This article by Ourschool.ca is timely as Boards wrapped their heads around the role and function of PIC's. People for Education Online Community is always an interesting read.

As you can tell I seem to have an interest in Parent Involvement &/or engagement. 

Parent Involvement III

I seem to be returning to this topic often. Parent Involvement/Engagement.

How do you measure parent involvement? Where do you measure parent involvement?

The Ministry of Education has mandated that boards and schools must increase their parent involvement in the schooling environment. Where is this best placed and determined?

The first place to look would be in the home. Parents asking & reviewing their child’s learning for the day. The everyday challenge of getting their child to get their homework (homeschooling) done. How is this to be possible with the desire to reduce if not eliminating homework? Until we get an open learning environment established at school and at home students do not/will not have the self desire to learn at home what is being taught at school.  Maybe that is what parents can do at home is create an environment for self learning.

Next would be parents coming into the school to help/volunteer in the classroom. Many parents feel comfortable coming into primary & junior classrooms and teachers are enjoying these extra hands but can you see a parent coming into a Grade 11 Biology class? First, the parent may not feel knowledgeable enough to help, the teachers may not want help and the student certainly does not want mom or dad around. Also many parents do not have the freedom to come into the school due to work, family or other commitments. How does the teacher use the parent volunteer, do they feel valued?

School SAC’s are another avenue. Whether it is giving input/developing school and board policy, organizing an event or fundraising, parents can lend a voice or hand. SAC’s and individual parents need to find their niche within the school and determine what works best. We will have to wait and see as PIC’s evolve how SAC’s evolve.

Does parent involvement need to be legislated/mandated? Probably not, but it does need to be supported at whatever area and level one wishes to become involved at. A 'one system for all' does not work for parent involvement. Parent involvement most remain voluntary.

Classroom Technology

I am the first one to admit that I am not up on all the technology that is available these days to use in the education of students. Whether it be the Ipad, Iphone, Skype, Livescribe, IWB, the list is endless. There are a few quotes that come to mind about the use of technology in the classroom: "The medium is the Message.", "Are the tools enhancing the learning process or just fluff?", "Don't use technology for the sack of technology." ,  "Technology Enhances but Never Substitutes" No, I am not against using technology in the classroom. I am just concerned that it is being used effectively. I am not in the classroom, I have used (at times even understand) very little of the technology. Someday maybe I will visit @hdurnin while she Skypes in her classroom or read & comment to one of @Grade1 's classroom blogs, watch a @Nunavut_Teacher 's Prezi, read @dougpete 's 'The Best of Ontario's Educators', be provoked by a @courosa or @gcouros or @joe_bower blog article, the examples can go on. As you can see education is not just for those in the classroom.