PARENT INVOLVEMENT AND OTHER FAMILY LITERACY PRACTICES

Part 3

Kathy R. FoxElementary, Middle and Literacy Education

WATSON SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UNCWMAY 17, 2011

AGENDA

3:45-3:55  Welcome and renew3:55-4:10  Recapping Parent Involvement using

Epstein’s model4:10-4:30    Discussion Board notes

Project FresaCommunity Map evidence

4:30-4:5  Planning for Empowerment:Task analysis

4:50-5:00   Sharing plans…taking steps

Introductions and School Role Call

Recapping who is here and who participated in the discussion board

Redefining Parent Involvement

• Historical views of parent involvement

• Current research says…

• Regional perspectives

• Economic perspectives

• Social and Cultural Capitol

Hierarchy of Parent InvolvementJoyce Epstein, 1989

Type 5 Involvement (parent involvement in government and advocacy)

Type 4 Involvement (parent involvement in learning activities at home)

Type 3 Involvement (parent involvement at schools)

Type 2 Involvement (basic obligations of the school)

Type 1 Involvement (basic obligations of parents)

Hierarchy of Parent InvolvementJoyce Epstein, 1989

Type 1 Involvement (basic obligations of parents) refers to the responsibilities of families to ensure the children’s health and safety; to the parenting and child-rearing skills needed to prepare children for school; to the continual need to supervise, discipline and guide children at each level and to build positive home conditions to support school learning.

Type 2 Involvement (basic obligations of the school) refers to the communications from school to home about school programs and children’s progress.

Type 3 Involvement (parent involvement at schools) refers to parent volunteers who assist teachers, administrators, and children in classrooms or in other areas of the school.

Type 4 Involvement (parent involvement in learning activities at home) refers to parent-initiated activities or child-initiated requests for help, and ideas or instructions from teachers to monitor or assist their children at home on learning activities that are coordinated with the children’s class work.

Type 5 Involvement (parent involvement in government and advocacy) refers to parents taking decision-making roles in the PTA/PTO, advisory councils or other committees or groups at the school, district or state level. It also refers to parent and community activists in independent advocacy groups that monitor the schools and work for school improvement

Guidelines for Parent Involvement: What Experience Tells Us Works

• Funds of Knowledge: Louis Moll, Norma Gonzalez, James Greenberg, and Carlos Velez

Retrieved May 2, 2011 from http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/CMMR/FullText/Luis_Moll_Hidden_Family_Resources.pdf

• Proyecto Fresa Project. Literacy, Technology, and Diversity: Teaching for Success in Changing Times. Jim Cummins, Kristine Brown, and Dennis Sayers (2007)

More Funds of Knowledge

A More Positive ApproachMoll contends • existing classroom practices underestimate

and constrain what [minority/disenfranchised] children are able to display intellectually.

• The secret to literacy instruction is for schools to investigate and tap into the "hidden" home and community resources of their students.

A Task Analysis: How do we make it happen?

Community Mapping Evidence regarding Libraries

• Describing the problem.• How can parents become involved?• What are stereotypical problems?• Who (according to Epstein) can become involved?• What needs to be done to recruit parents?• Who can recruit?• Who are the gate keepers? What are their conditions?• What are the possible outcomes?

Questions/Comments/Setting up Discussion Board

Discussion Board is an optional opportunity for us to brainstorm and problem solve together. Using the Funds of Knowledge approach, we can take the stance that once parents are empowered to come into our schools as knowers they will stay in our schools as visible participants. Therefore, what can we (teachers, school personnel) do to “tap” the unseen knowledge base of our parent communities?

Our final session will incorporate ideas from the Discussion Board to set up action plans. Participants should see this session as a work session…bring your calendars! Bring your ideas! Bring your positive attitudes about children and families in our communities!

Your Funds of Knowledge from the Discussion Board

• We have a lot of parents with agricultural skills at my school. I think that a survey at the beginning of the year is a great way to figure out what these skills and hobbies. We also have a school garden and ask parents to come in and share their skills. I would like to have a monthly or bimonthly parent skill day where parents come in and teach students how to do something that they enjoy.

Your Funds of Knowledge from the Discussion Board

The wonderfully unique thing that I celebrate about New Hanover High School is it's "diverse diversity"! Our student demographics run the gamut from urban/rural,

wealthy/impoverished, highly educated parents/high school dropout parents, varied racial and native nationalities are represented at NHHS, and so on.

As you can guess, we have a very strong PTSA, but its makeup is very one-sided in that it comprises a majority of our wealthy/upper middle, white students and parents, and very little to [dare I say with a student body of almost 1,700 students] no minority or

rural representation.

I get excited when I think of the many ways to pull from the cultural and vocational expertise of all of our parents! For instance ... afro gospel music, growing and canning

strawberries and blueberries, explanation of native Lumbie Tribal dress, pottery, Mexican, African, & Asian cuisine, hair braiding, and the Gullah-Geechee Culture to

name a few.

Thank you for getting my wheels spinning!

Your Funds of Knowledge:Planning

I read some great ideas for school events in responses to this inquiry. However, I think the most important question

is how does a school go about obtaining the talents of their parents? I do not think going about it traditionally, through surveys and other "take home written responses," will be effective for Level 1 parents. However, I have found that

there are always several level 2 or 3 parents who have good reputations/relationships in their community and are able

to motivate the more reluctant parents. So, I'm thinking that finding and tapping into the key families from each community you serve is a great first step in this process.

Your Funds of Knowledge: Planning

Evidence of Success

• Hilda’s story from Moll’s work• My school and parent-led baile

folklorico• My experience with Mother’s Day at

the high school level• Japan and the town centennial

Citations

• Cummins, J., Brown, K. & Sayers, D. (2007). Literacy, Technology and Diversity: Teaching for Success in Changing Times.

• Epstein, J., Becker, H., and Hollifield, J. (Eds.) (1983). Study of Teacher Practices of Parent Involvement: Results From Surveys of Teachers and Parents. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Social Organization of Schools

• Ho, H., Fox, K. & Gonzalez, M. Making Schools Family-Friendly. Chapter 5. Editor Dianna Hiatt-Michaels. Pepperdine University. Spring 2007.

• Ho, H., Gonzalez, M. & Fox, K. Providing Culturally-Sensitive Parent Education Programs. Chapter 6. Editor Dianna Hiatt-Michaels. Pepperdine University. Spring 2007.

• Moll, L.,Gonzalez, N., Greenberg, J. & Velez, C. Funds of Knowledge. Retrieved May 2, 2011 from http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/CMMR/FullText/Luis_Moll_Hidden_Family_Resources.pdf