To create a realistic plan for family engagement in your school that takes into account potential barriers and to evaluate your plan.
Scenario:
Your student teaching experiences convinced you of the benefits for everyone when schools and families make a commitment to each other to work together. You have several ideas for supporting family engagement in your classroom. You are aware, however, of particular attitudes between parents and teachers that may create barriers to working together (e.g., lack of childcare, families feeling intimidated by authority figures). You decide to write down three-parent attitudes about participation in school events that may become an obstacle. Next, you consider three emotional responses from parents and teachers that may also cause barriers (e.g., painful memories of school experiences, disillusioning experiences with professionals). Last, you write about three external factors (e.g., busy schedules, outdated ideas) that can undermine parent relationships. Then, you give each potential barrier careful thought as to how you will try to prevent it.
Focus Assignment
1. To promote parent engagement in your school, bearing in mind that you may encounter several obstacles, create a plan that describes three-parent attitudes that may become barriers to family engagement. Next, describe three emotional responses from parents and teachers that might impede family engagement. Finally, describe three external factors that might undermine parent relationships. Then, write a few sentences to explain how you would overcome each potential barrier.
2. Be sure to read the SELF-EVALUATION section below to guide your thinking. Write your self-evaluation after you have completed your plan.
Self-Evaluation
1. For each item in your plan:
a. Explain how this item addresses the issues in the scenario.
2. Describe and justify how your plan would improve teaching and learning in the scenario.