Parent Professionals
In regards to parent involvement and community based education, an important aspect would be to have parent professionals involved in the classroom in order to allow students and teachers to gain a sense of diversity in the classroom. This would involve participation of all parents, no matter what their profession is: a mother that works in the fields or a father that owns his own company. Parents visiting the classroom would be able to teach the students about their job, enabling each student to understand the diverse professions that are in their community. We would strive to make the parents feel comfortable coming into the classroom no matter what. If a parent only speaks Spanish, great! The lesson or presentation will be a learning experience because our ideal school is bilingual. There are often assumptions that go along with students in the classroom and understanding the background and familial context of each individual will help to break these preconceptions. This idea sounds a lot like career day at a typical school, but it goes much deeper than that.
A parent, either mom and/or dad (or guardian), would visit the classroom once throughout the school year. This would allow the students to understand what professions are in their community and that they should be aware of the different possibilities they have once they have continued on after finishing their education. Professionals could bring in pictures of where they work, possibly wear what they would wear to work, talk through a typical day at work, and even possibly bring in examples of what they do (a taste of something if they work with food, show the construction process of a certain item if they work on an assembly line, etc.). This will allow the students to have a hands-on experience with each parent professional.
Parent involvement is very important in the lives of students because it shows each child that their parents, or guardian, are making the effort to be involved in their education. It helps each student, teacher, and parent gain an understanding of the dynamics of home life as well as school life. It is very common that when teachers have a better sense of their students’ lives, and parents have a better understanding of their child’s life in the classroom, the child will feel more confident about themselves and feel more able and willing to learn.
I would like to extend this idea to even include parents who may successful with math being given the opportunity to participate in the classroom by teaching a lesson or two, or plant a garden if a parent has a passion for this. When teachers know have access the strengths that their students’ parents hold, it will be easier to form community in the classroom because teachers can build off these strengths and allow for more parental involvement and participation.
Further information:
•Setting up a School Speakers Bureau
By: Kelly K.
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