Parent Panel

“[We] need to view everyone as a public intellectual...Change that matters is always collective in nature.”

Full disclosure: this selection is from reading I am doing for another project. At the risk of appearing like I am lazily double dipping, I include this selection because it just feels so darned appropriate. I don’t think parents or students are often sincerely asked for their opinion. Both the parent and student panel have shown me that these folks really know what they are talking about. At this parent panel, I learned both some of this knowledge parents have to share and the ways that the district of Central Falls is utilizing their knowledge. I see evidence of change at CF and it’s really encouraging.

 

Okay, so what did I learn from the parent’s who were awesome and donated their time to the panel?

Maybe it seems obvious, but I never would have thought to call a parent if a student is hanging out with a new group of friends. Two weeks ago I thought phone calls were relegated strictly to academic roadblocks or successes. But of course a parent wants to know if their child’s social life is shifting.

The other big of course is that ALL PARENTS CARE. That is the paradigm I want to work from. Sitting in front of four parents who took the time and worked up the nerve to come share their knowledge with me really made that concept hit home.

In my notes from the panel I also have, “Invite!! Invite!! Invite!!”. If I keep making my classroom welcome and open, little by little, parents will come.

And how did I see CF utilizing parent knowledge?

A lot of this was from information Dr.Gallow provided. I think it’s great that there are almost weekly public meetings, and parent rooms in many of CF’s schools. I am curious about how these meetings actually go.

And the questions to always be asking myself: “How will this affect your classroom practice Colleen? What are you going to be doing with this information NOW?”

I loved the suggestion to write ‘Call a Parent’ into my lesson plans. WHOEVER READS THIS PLEASE ASK ME IF I CALLED A PARENT AT THE END OF TEACHING MY LESSON AT CF.  I also took away some great questions to ask potential schools during future job interviews. Who is your home school liason? What kinds of translation services does your school have? How often are parents in the schools? If I’m being honest, calling lots of parents and doing lots of home visits not only sounds really important, but really exhausting. Especially as a new teacher, I want a school that will support me in being the kind of teacher I want to be. 

References

Campano, Gerald., Sanchez, Lenny. (2010). Embodying Socially Just Policy in Practice. In sj Miller & D. E. Kirkland (Eds.), Change Matters, Critical Essays on Moving Social Justice Research from Theory to Policy (25-32). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publisher.