Working with Parents

Research

El Nokali, Bachman and Votruba-Drzal (2010) explored the relationship between parent involvement and elementary students' academic achievement and social and emotional growth.  In their study, El Nokali, Bachman and Votruba-Drzal used questionnaires to measure how much parents encouraged education, how invested the parents were in education, and to explore the parents' educational attitudes (ex. Did parents and schools share similar goals for students?). (p. 994)  The authors also used standardized measures to assess students' academic achievement and social and emotional development and then looked for correlations between the parental involvement data, student data, and teacher ratings. (p. 995-6)  The study did not find a strong correlation between parent involvement and academic achievement. (p. 1000)  The study did find that "significant associations were detected repeatedly among parent involvement, social skills, and behavior problems in both between- and within-child models" (p. 1001)  Their research implies that it may be beneficial to involve parents in the teaching of 21st century skills.  Skills that are applicable to academic achievement (ex. critical thinking and creativity) but also focus on the social and emotional growth of students (through collaboration and communication).  

Parent Teacher Conferences

Last week, I met in person with parents of almost all my students.  These parent-teacher conferences allowed me to get on the same page with several parents and make a plan for working together to support their child's growth.  Overall, these conversations were positive and valuable.  One common question that came up was that parents weren't sure how to teach math the "new way" and they felt uncomfortable helping students complete missed work because they didn't want to "do it wrong".   I tried to alleviate some of this trepidation by explaining that any support was appreciated.  As I shared some examples of student work and pointed out where their student was thriving, parents appreciated the real world application of skills and that their students were gaining conceptual understanding and not simply rote memorization.  We talked about collaboration and creativity, thinking critically and defending thinking.  We talked about effective communication in the classroom and at recess.  I did not talk about preparing their child for the future but I did talk about preparing for the next grade.   I wondered if it was too early to talk about their child's long-term future.   Were our discussions too limited or appropriate for the age and time?

Parent Resources

In A Parent's Guide to 21st Century Learning (2012), the authors stress, "To be able to solve problems in our complex, fast-changing world, students must become nimble, creative thinkers who can work well with others." (p. 3)  The guide emphasizes that the 4 Cs do not override the need for strong academic curriculum.  Rather, critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity must be integrated into a strong academic learning environment to prepare students for future success.  The guide shares links to 21st century learning in action, such as John Hunter's "World Peace Game" at http://worldpeacegame.org/, and provides resources for teaching these skills outside of school, such as exploring mentoring and internship opportunities in a community.  The guide concludes by encouraging parents to learn more, get involved and share discovered resources with teachers.  

What Next?

As a new teacher, I often wonder how to integrate innovative resources with an already rigorous curriculum to provide the most valuable learning experience for each unique student in my class.  I wonder how many of my students would thrive in a project based learning challenge like the "World Peace Game" and which students (on one day or many days) would rather work individually in a calm and focused environment.  I believe in the game but I’m not entirely sure which students would benefit the most.  

In general, I feel supported by parents with any project that connects learning to real life situations.  I find these are the projects students talk about at home, work on while on the bus, and remember weeks later.   I wonder how much parents reflect on their own education and how they learned new information.  It certainly looked different from today's classroom.  I am inspired to communicate with parents more about 21st century skills and engage in meaningful conversations with parents to learn what they think about project-based learning and how they support the 4 Cs at home.

Video Resource

Check out John Hunter's Ted Talk about the World Peace Game 

Additional Resources

El Nokali, N. E., Bachman, H. J., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2010). Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School. Child Development, 81(3), 988–1005.

The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2012). A Parent's Guide to 21st-Century Learning. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/guides/edutopia-parents-guide-21st-century-learning.pdf