Chapter 3: Families and Communities

 Resolved: Partnerships between teachers and families can improve the learning of students.

Many hands make light work, which means that the more people that are involved the easier it is to accomplish tasks. In schools we see teachers, students, and parents having to come together and work to better each students’ education. We should not only rely on teachers to take care of education and helping students be all they can be. It takes equal efforts in all three ways in order to fully see students excel and be successful in the school setting. Many times we forget that in order to keep students on task and focused the parents need to help the teachers by keeping an eye on children at home and school. It takes teamwork from both parents and teachers to help a student learn and become successful. Parents need to be willing to show an interest in their child’s learning ability and make an effort to help their children excel.  They need to show their children they care by getting in touch with teachers and staying current with all that is going on in their children’s lives. However this is not a one-way street and in turn the teacher should be sure to communicate with parents and keep them informed. The teachers should be willing to discuss a child with his or her parents on a regular basis being sure to keep them informed on what is going on in the child’s life. When both sides work together to help the students succeed we can see a big difference in students behavior and will power to learn. In The Joy of Teaching we see that family involvement in schools and with teachers has proven to be an important variable in supporting student learning and successful school experiences. For students it meant higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates along with better attendance, self esteem, increased motivation, lower rates of suspension, fewer instances with violent behavior, etc. (Pg. 113) If parents are willing to care about what is going on in their child’s life and taking an effort to help their child why should a teacher stop them? When one teacher Mrs. Greer went into the field of teaching she made sure to keep her students’ parents involved, which in turn made them more involved in the classroom and school activities.  In the Joy of Teaching this teacher’s story is brought to life and we see how these parents took an interest in their young children’s learning because she gave them the opportunity to.  (Pg 112) How does one know if their students’ parents want to get involved in what is going on if they do not take the opportunity to ask? The PTA (Parent Teacher Association) believes that communications between educators and parents are critical to a good education, and make it their first standard. (Pg. 116) They have seen that out of a group of new teachers 25% described their relationship with parents to be very satisfying. If teachers find it satisfying I am sure the parent do as well and though both parties may not always agree they are making an effort for the well being of the student.  Overall if both parents and teachers care enough about the students they will do all they can to see them grow in their education by communicating with one another.