Parent Teacher Partnerships

In my future classroom, one of my main goals is to become a liaison between my students and their parents, and explain my students’ successes and areas of concern. I know it is the teacher’s role to establish communication with parents and to bring engaging reading activities to the home. I wish to involve parents in my plan to help my students become fluent readers. I believe that books need to be read to kids, with kids, and by kids in order for them to become fluent. Therefore, I want to encourage parents to participate in reading activities with their children at home. I also want learn more about my students’ behavior at home and various personal challenges they are facing in order to accurately plan lesson and assessments. In order to accomplish these objectives; I recognize the need to obtain partnerships with my students’ parents and establish a team mentality. A major issue is that some parents may be more enthusiastic to help their children than others. How does a teacher efficiently establish relationships with parents and relay the importance of home-literacy activities?

In the first chapter of Literacy for the 21st Century (Tompkins, 2010), the author states, “Research has concluded again and again that home-literacy activities profoundly influence children’s academic success” (2010, p. 29). Children of involved parents often attend school regularly, engage in higher-level activities, and score higher on standardized tests. However, many parents believe teaching is best left to the teacher, and others feel inadequate when it comes to helping their children read and write. Tompkins claims the first step towards building a partnership with parents is to accept “that parents view their role in different ways and (one must) become more knowledgeable about cultural diversity and how it affects parent-teacher relationships” (2010, 30). Tompkins encourages teachers to: be aware of and respect the literacy activities of each family, to connect with families in many ways (demonstrates to parents that their voice will be heard), and build caregivers’ knowledge of the reading and writing processes (especially in culturally diverse classroom).


In the article “The Importance Of Teacher/Parent Partnerships: Preparing Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers”, Professor Sandra Loughran stresses the importance of respecting and acknowledging “the parents’ role as prime educators and role models” (2008, p. 36). Teachers should attempt to build a parent’s sense of self-efficacy (regardless of the caregivers’ economic status or cultural background), and clearly explain that their child and the class as a whole will greatly benefit from the home-literacy activities. Once strong communication ties are formed with parents, teachers can then start to suggest home-literacy activities that will enrich the student and move them toward fluency. Tompkins offers unique suggestions including: family journaling (each member writes about their day and shares with the whole family), family book clubs, readers’ theatre, and traveling book bags. No matter how creative the teacher’s activities are, he or she will not receive the desired outcome unless communication is clear. In order to alleviate confusion, Loughran stresses the importance of relaying “clear and succinct directions” to achieve optimum results. (2008, p. 35).

Resources

Building Parent Teacher Relationships. American Federation of Teachers (2007). http://www.readingrockets.org/article/19308/

Loughran, Sandra (2008). The Importance Of Teacher/Parent Partnerships: Preparing Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers, Journal of College Teaching and Learning. www.cluteinstitute-onlinejournals.com/PDFs/1103.pdf

Tompkins, Gail E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach.


Additional Sources

http://www.parenting-child-development.com/parent-teacher.html

http://www.videojug.com/interview/parent-teacher-partnerships