The Vital Importance of Empowering “Parent Voice”

In the school setting we strive to engage students and teachers in the collaborative learning process. Teacher voice is imperative as they play an integral role in the overall educational experience. Students, as the primary learners in our schools, need “voice” and “choice” as part of the comprehensive learning environment. So parents, who are just as important to the educational formula, are sometimes out of the equation. Sitting on the sidelines, parents can, at times feel isolated and ostracized from the very experience that should serve as an all-inclusive organizational structure. You can guarantee parent engagement and build capacity by sharing the decision making process with your parents. Engage, encourage, and entrust your parents and the rest will become history.

In Beyond the Bake Sale, Henderson and Mapp explain the importance of “Sharing Power” in Chapter 8. They identified three practices that will help schools further engage and involve parents in the educational process:

1.      Provide workable mechanisms for teachers, parents, and students to voice their ideas and concerns, and to take part in decision making.

2.       Build a broad base of involvement by increasing families’ political knowledge and skills, and their connections to other parents and people in the community.

3.       Strengthen families’ links with community organizations and resources.

In reflecting on the practices in my own school, I can share some of the things we are doing to include parents in the voice, sharing, decision making process.

All-School Leadership Team: Working to include parents on this team will offer greater “voice” to your parent community. This team or committee is the group that makes the “BIG” decisions for the building. We call this our BIG Committee (Building Improvement Group).  We meet monthly. Parents share their insight, perspectives, and knowledge on the multiple topics that we discuss. Building-wide decisions are affirmed with this BIG Committee. We set building policy, so it is vital that we have parent voice. In preparing for the upcoming school year this committee set building policy for dress code, BYOD, and back packs. This committee is also responsible for finalizing our School Improvement Plan.

School Improvement Plan: Engage parents as part of this team. Allow parents to help you shape your school’s improvement plan. Their voice is important and they can share another necessary perspective as you discuss and develop the school’s plan.

Celebrations: Parents want to be included in this facet of the school day too. Enlist parent leaders to plan, organize, and facilitate school-wide student celebrations in academics, achievement, and behavior.

Parent Panels: This forum is an excellent way for your parents to share their perspective, roles, and involvement with school visitors. When you have visiting groups, work to host a Parent Panel. This way your parents can provide the parent perspective. We use this format when schools come to visit and during our Summer Survival Series.

PTO/PTA: Use this important parent committee to offer and empower parent voice in a variety of decision making opportunities. Our PTO is responsible for all fund raising and teacher grants. They also focus on technology support. They play a major role in improving, implementing, and meeting the technology needs of both students and staff. Do not take this facet of parent leadership lightly. This is an instrumental need within each school setting.

Parent Development: Engage your parent leaders in providing parent professional development throughout the school year. Every parent has potential to serve the school in one facet or another. Seek out parents to serve in this capacity. Our Parent Involvement Team coordinates our Parenting 101, Summer Survival Series, Round-Table Discussions, Book Discussions, and parent volunteerism.

Within the above identified structures, parents can serve as leaders, learners, and liaisons.  This is important as this allows for greater parent participation and involvement in our schools. The examples I noted are merely the tip of the proverbial “iceberg”. There are so many more ways in which parents can become part of the shared leadership in our schools today. I look forward to learning how you are increasing parent engagement in your school.

As I continue this journey, I want to thank Joe Mazza and my Beyond the Bake Sale Voxer book study cohort for their support, encouragement, and teaching me new ways to engage my parents at Francis Howell Middle!

If you are interested in empowering your parents or looking for ways to improve school to home relationships, I strongly urge you to read Henderson and Mapp’s Beyond the Bake Sale then you can empower your school to move “beyond” where you are today!