Ms. Thompson is a first-year teacher at a Title I school in an urban area. The school has been in the neighborhood for over 75 years, and many of the family members of current students actually attended the school in years past. Although there has been a recent change in administration at the school, many of the teachers on faculty have been with the school for over 25 years. Ms. Thompson wants to engage her students’ families this year, but she realizes there are a lot of barriers to family engagement. Describe some of the common barriers Ms. Thompson’s families may have to engage in with the school and ways she can help families overcome these barriers.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Teacher attitudes can create barriers. Educators must begin to engage families by viewing them positively and getting to know them.
Make clear various ways families can be involved in the educational system.
Offer family activities or events after work hours.
Offer ways to help with homework when families need it.
See about helping to provide transportation and childcare for family events.
Use a variety of ways to communicate with families.
Avoid leaping to false conclusions when families don’t respond right away to teacher communication efforts.
It is important to suspend any judgment about families and work to get to know more about the issues they face that may prevent school involvement.
Find ways to share successes and accomplishments of children and plan together for future learning with families.
Recognize the possibility that families may have unresolved feelings from when they attended the school as students. Old feelings and resentment can resurface when invited to the school. For example, a parent may have thoughts such as “My son will never be treated fairly because the teachers will think that he is trouble, just like they used to think of me.”
Work to get to know students’ family members personally, including learning more about their experiences with school as children.