For decades, when educational leaders (teachers, administrators or parent leaders) were asked for a definition of what they considered an “engaged parent” to be, the following traits would be the first to come to mind:
- They help their child with their homework.
- Attend events at school.
- Supervise class field trips.
- Have ongoing communication with classroom teacher.
- Participate in parent-teacher interviews.
- Volunteer as part of the school council.
In today’s world, the above list would make it seem that most parents would not be viewed as “engaged parents”. The stress of two parents working, single parent homes, high number of immigrant families who struggle to settle into a new life and the economic challenges that
many face, all lead to an ever-changing view of what real parent involvement means today.
Facing today’s challenges
The challenges that families face today mean that we need to look for new ways to support and provide resources for these parents to be involved in their children’s school life. Some of the following ideas may be helpful in working towards engaging these parents:
- Educators and parent council members may wish to ask how they can best communicate with parents. Try various methods such as e-mail, notes in the child’s agenda, translating materials so that parents can support their child’s learning.
- When invitations to school events are prepared, include the phrase “all family members welcome”. This would mean that a Grandparent, Aunt/Uncle, Older Sibling etc. could accompany the student to the event. This way if the parent is working, the student still gets to attend and share the experience with their peers.
- If it is not possible for a parent to come into school to meet with the teacher on interview day, perhaps setting up a time for a phone call that would work for both would allow the parent an opportunity to be engaged in their child’s education.
- Do not assume that every parent understands terms that are common to us i.e. EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Office assessment test), PD Day (Professional Development Day), etc. Parents can be a great support to their child when they fully understand what is happening at school.
- Let parents know that you understand their life situation. Be prepared to provide support in a manner that works best for them.
Family Engagement
Perhaps we should start referring to “family engagement” instead of “parent engagement” when we look at how to structure resources and school events. In addition, it is so important that we value every kind of family involvement that supports our students. We cannot simply focus on academics but also support students emotionally.
We need to make a change in our thinking of “what can parents/families do for the school” to “what can the school community do to support this family”.
Like everything in life, parent engagement is a dynamic that is changing especially in priority communities, and we must change with it so that students are supported more fully and feel included in all aspects of school life.
Find more resources on our website
If you haven’t already done so, we encourage you to surf our website. We have a great list of links to other valuable parent engagement resources on our links page. If you are looking to find more articles like this one, check out the rest of our blog or visit our brochures page. We are constantly trying to add new content for parents to enjoy.
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