Ten Ways to Make Parents Your Most Important Classroom Allies
The home-school divide can be a big barrier for teachers to cross. But IB World Schools have found some innovative and unusual ways to make parents feel engaged, as Katie Jacobs discovered.
1. Get to work
Hearing his students talk proudly about their parents’ jobs inspired Beant Haarsma, economics and business teacher at Amsterdam International Community School (AICS), Netherlands. Running the AICS Business Club, an after-school activity for IB Diploma Programme students, he was used to having to find people to give talks about their jobs, but it was a pupil who suggested tapping into the rich resource of mum and dad.
“A student who wasn’t even in my class asked if her dad could come and give a talk,” says Beant. The idea snowballed and the club has since enjoyed hearing parents talk about everything from international supply chain management at Starbucks to why bankers alone are not to blame for the global recession. Hearing such speakers can really transform students’ understanding. “The Starbucks manager was able to make them see the link between mathematics and business studies,” says Beant. “I had been trying unsuccessfully to show them the link in class.”
And it’s not just Diploma Programme students who get engaged: to help MYP students choose subjects for the Diploma Programme, they are matched up with parents to experience working for a day. “It will help the students see what qualifications you need for certain jobs,” says Beant.
2. Speak their language
Children pick up new languages relatively easily – especially if they move countries and become immersed in a new culture. But for many parents, learning a language from scratch can be a challenge that leaves them feeling isolated and uncertain.
At Heidelberg International School (HIS) in Germany, parents speak more than 20 different languages, including Japanese, Swahili, Hindi, Finnish and Mandarin. “Many of our linguistic groups have only a few members,” says learning support and language coordinator Susan Hoeck-Bühler. “We were hoping to find a way to educate parents about language acquisition and support them in providing the experiences their children need.” The answer, staff decided, was to start a home language support group.
Susan invited each non-native English-speaking family to a presentation about the importance of home language support. “Considering the size of our school, I was amazed by the turnout – more than 20 families,” says Susan.
Next, a communication board was set up where families who speak the same language can post information and arrange ‘play dates’. The school also circulated a list of all the languages spoken by parents and teachers. The multi-lingual group requested a meeting every six weeks to talk about the curriculum and coordinate same-language support and social groups. The whole school benefits, says Susan: “Bringing together people with common languages leads to a better flow of information and more opportunities for parents to be involved in the school community.”
3. Work it out
They may take time and effort to organize, but workshops are a great way to get to know parents, and help them get to grips with aspects of IB life. When Miras International School in Almaty, Kazakhstan, held a five-year review, parents expressed confusion over some aspects of the IB Diploma Programme – particularly theory of knowledge (TOK) and the extended essay.
The solution? Invite parents and students to workshops, where they work together to better understand the curriculum. As IB coordinator Adam Armanski says: “Parents can learn from their children”. In the extended essay workshops, parents work with students to answer questions about essay length, academic honesty, the role of supervisors and the importance of deadlines. The winning team gets a prize.
When it comes to TOK, things get dramatic, with Adam setting scenarios to generate discussions around the subject. “The most popular was the performance based on the Dutch TV hoax Big Donor Show,” he says. “A person suffering from an incurable disease needs to decide which of three contestants with a liver condition will get their liver after their death. Students acted the parts.” Unsurprisingly, discussions can get heated, and Adam says that after such workshops parents are typically more engaged in future meetings. And as well as improving knowledge and engagement, there are some unexpected perks to running workshops. “I get invited to a lot more dinner parties now,” says Adam.
4. Revisit the basics
Should parents play a role in shaping the values and philosophy of a school? At the International School of Milan (ISM) in Italy, the answer is a resounding yes. ISM’s philosophy is reviewed every five years, and last year staff asked parents to get involved. Like many other schools, the philosophy is based on a set of core values, which drive all strategic thinking and planning. But they need to be reviewed to keep pace with the school’s needs and an evolving world. “Parents were very vocal in our discussions,” says Middle School principal Adam Brown. “They were keen to ensure the school philosophy was enacted, not just left as words on paper.”
Parents were invited to discussion meetings, social events and consultations.
A blog was also set up so they could comment on the process. They were encouraged to be honest – identifying which aspects of school life did not live up to the philosophy’s ideals of respect, responsibility and excellence. Adam says parental feedback shows being involved in such a key part of the school has given them a strong sense of ownership and encouraged them to remain engaged. “Parents commented on the importance of being consulted,” he says.
5. Get technical
Many students and educators feel at home in Web 2.0, making wikis, blogs and podcasts part of everyday teaching life. But parents, too, increasingly know their way around the web, which is why Nanjing International School in China has introduced a school-wide online communication system which brings parents into the virtual classroom. Wikis and blogs are used for communication, collaboration, posting homework, sharing documents, planning calendars and gaining vital feedback.
“All teachers use a wiki for home-school communication. Parents are able to view homework, photographs, videos, and documents, and leave comments for teachers and students,” explains the school’s technology integration specialist, Ann Martin. They can also use Apple’s personal calendar application, iCal, to keep an eye on their child’s homework calendar. “iCal has made life a lot less stressful at home,” says one parent.
Taking work online has many benefits. Not only does it cut down on paperwork (and prevent things getting ‘lost’ on the way home from school), but it is also often easier for busy parents to check and comment on a wiki than arrange a face-to-face meeting with a teacher. There remains significant inequality in access to broadband across the world. But many schools in sub-Sarahan Africa, where fixed line connections are most scarce, are developing mobile learning (or m-learning) techniques that allow information to be shared using mobile phones. For parents of younger children, who have not yet developed the ability to communicate what they have learned, going online can help to make sense of what is going on at school.
“Once, a five-year-old student told his parents that he had spent his day throwing water at other students,” says Ann. “When the parents accessed the wiki and looked at the photos of the activity, they understood what the students were learning and how water was involved.” In this way, the wiki can be useful for explaining the wider learning or curriculum context of a particular activity. As another parent says: “The wikis help me understand so much more about what is happening in the classroom.”
6. Spread the word
The new IB virtual community marks an important development in the relationship between the IB and parents and will help ensure they have more information and opportunity to engage, says director of development Andrea Lucard.
“Parents are some of the best advocates, donors and volunteers the IB has,” explains Andrea. “They are the ones who support schools and get the IB messages out there into the world.” The IB has undertaken a number of initiatives in recent years, including a survey to schools in January 2010 that sought the views of parents on different topics. They were asked about the benefits of an IB education, the level of communication they received from their schools and what could help them better understand the curriculum and the aims of the IB programmes.
The next stage will involve empowering parents to create networks across the world via the virtual community, to share knowledge and talk about common issues. “Schools tell us, and we are well aware, that when parents connect with each other it strengthens our ability to make the IB mission come alive,” says Andrea.
7. Parents make great speakers
Teachers have access to a pool of resources which is often richer and more engaging than books. With a wide range of cultures, languages and heritages to draw on, there’s perfect sense in making parents stars of study. At International School Suva (ISS) in Fiji, parents are invited to share their experiences as part of the units of inquiry ‘Who we are’ and ‘Where we are in place and time’.
“At ISS, we have at least 40 different ethnic backgrounds. Many of our children can claim at least two cultural heritages,” says head of primary Janet Tauva. To get the ball rolling, teachers wrote to all parents explaining that they wanted the students to explore their personal histories and inviting them to come and share aspects of their own culture: personal or traditional stories, artifacts, songs, dance, arts or crafts. One father from Ghana explained the importance of ceremonies in his culture by showing students a film of his wedding day and teaching them to dance. According to Janet: “Even shy parents warm to their role as they realize the focus is on their perspectives and we want to learn from their experiences.”
Teachers at Gimnasio del Norte in Bogotá, Colombia, have found success with the same tactic, inviting parents to share knowledge and experiences. “This makes families feel involved and helps them recognize the IB as a massive tool in the shaping of their children,” explain PYP teachers Margarita Cifuentes and Tatiana Echeverri.
8. Get together
In many ways, teachers and parents are partners, working together to turn students into open-minded, caring and well rounded adults. So forging a close relationship makes perfect sense. Pathways World School in New Delhi, India,
has chosen to make this special connection official, establishing a Primary School Parent Partnership in 2008. Each primary school parent is automatically invited to attend meetings once a month to plan new initiatives. To formalize the process, a committee has been set up with parents elected to roles including partnership president, reading coordinator and activities coordinator.
“Staff and parents agreed to share responsibility and support all-round development
of our budding young ‘worldizens’,” explains PYP principal Rima Singh. The proactive arrangement involves parents lending a hand with learning activities including a popular reading programme where parents come in once a week to read with students. They also coordinate after-school sports clubs including squash, tennis, horse riding and soccer. School events including a used book fair have been given a new lease of life as parents volunteer to help organize them.
In addition, to help parents as much as students, a Parents Fellowship has been launched for families who are new to the area or who have just arrived in the country. New parents are invited to coffee mornings and other social events, and given information about their new home. “This not only helps ease the new parents into the school environment, but also acts as a catalyst for new friendships within the parent community,” says Rima.
9. Be proactive
Not every parent can put their hand up for after-school activities, or come into school to discuss what happens in the classroom. But that doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from getting involved in school life. Building relationships can be tricky but is essential, says Lindsey Berthiaume, music director at Lyford Cay International School (LCIS) in Nassau, Bahamas. “Without a good relationship, the teacher doesn’t feel comfortable expressing concerns about the student, so they might not address the problem straight away,” she says. “However, getting parents to like you shouldn’t be your primary concern. You don’t want to build a relationship in which you can’t speak honestly.”
To create positive but professional ties, establish common ground. Lindsey suggests talking about how parents experienced a certain subject in their own school days or asking what music their child likes. Set projects for students that involve the family, such
as interviewing relatives. At LCIS, such approaches have paid off. “One family had no involvement. At a parent-teacher meeting they said they were embarrassed to come in as they didn’t know what was going on at all. I went over questions to ask the children and gave them material to use at home,” says Lindsey.
At Gimnasio del Norte, Colombia, staff find showing parents how the PYP works in real life boosts engagement. “For the unit of inquiry ‘Who we are’ we talked about healthy living,” says teacher Paula Ximena Ospina. “It encouraged children to improve their family’s lifestyle. When parents realize the benefits of the programme, they often become active in the IB community.”
10. Communication is key
“It is often a challenge getting parents to understand that PYP is academic and that units of inquiry aren’t just airy-fairy,” says Lori Rung Lombardo, teacher at Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), China. “So we try to get them to understand the planning behind the curriculum.” To do this, WAB runs workshops that explain all aspects of the PYP curriculum to parents.
“The workshop lets parents see what other subjects are taught within the context of transdisciplinary units of inquiry,” explains Lori. Interactive activities take parents through how and why a unit of inquiry is structured, clearing up any worries or confusion. Other teachers around the world agree that communication is key to getting non-IB parents to understand the programme, and refute any misconceptions they might have.
“The ‘elitist’ tag is one of the toughest challenges that the Diploma Programme has to overcome,” says Deborah Duggan, English teacher at Jumeirah English Speaking School, Arabian Ranches, Dubai, and a proud IB parent. “You shouldn’t downplay the amount of hard work that is required, but it is not about academic ability so much as dedication.”
Nora Zarate from Dulwich College Beijing in China, says: “Parents can be anxious about the challenge their child is facing.” To overcome this and encourage communication between school and family, she advises inviting parents to get involved with CAS activities. “This involves them in another aspect of the Diploma Programme, which may result in them taking a more active role in the IB.”
Explain all aspects of the IB programmes to parents, and you may end up with a fan club, as Pilar Cervantes, PYP Coordinator at Colegio Altair, Lima, Peru discovered. “Parents always say to me, ‘How come we were not taught this way? I would have enjoyed school so much.’”
