PARENT, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

For this week’s blog assignment we were asked to consider one system element that is a foundational strength of Head Start.  Parent and Family Involvement is the assigned element we were given to consider.  We were then asked to review and reflect of the life stories we read on the website of the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC), which is part of the Office of Head Start (http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about/stories/pfs).  We were then asked to blog about what we learned from these Parent and Family Stories and to address two or more of the given topics.  The topics I chose are:

1.  Why do involvement opportunities for parents and family members benefit young children, families, and the early childhood field?

Head Start/Early Head Start places a large emphasis on family involvement.  Unfortunately, educators do not currently have a comprehensive way to measure information from families concerning the types of learning experiences they provide for their children in the home environment.  This information is important due to the fact that one of the primary missions of Head Start/Early Head Start is to prepare children for school (Hindman and Wasik, 2010).  These experiences with their families are very important as the preschool years are a critical time for children’s language and literacy learning (Hindman and Wasik, 2010).  Families are a child’s first teacher and educators cannot accomplish what needs to be done without the families’ interaction (Hindman and Wasik, 2010).

2.  What is the value that hearing such stories has for early childhood professionals, for the public, and for policymakers and government officials?

Listening, really listening to the stories for this assignment has reinforced what I have written in prior assignments.  One of the issues I know I need to continuously work on in regards to changing demographics and diversity is making sure everyone feels respected and included in their community and their child’s education.  I say this because as the demographics and diversity change in my child care and community, so must I.  Fortunately, working with exchange students has really opened my eyes to this issue and allowed me to understand that I can keep growing and learning along with the families/students/community.  The students are always willing to educate me on their cultures, customs, etc…  All I have to do is ask.  If I do not know something I make sure I ask the families to educate me.

According to Santamaria (2009), challenges inherent in serving multiple students with diverse needs (i.e. academic, cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, etc.) have been the preoccupation of educators since the identification of academic achievement gaps in research studies and by school districts (Santamaria, 2009). 

In order to be an effective educator, regardless of what field of education we are working in, we need to be culturally competent communicators.  According to Le Roux (2002), education is not just about understanding the curriculum and achieving good grades.  It is also about teaching and learning about values, assumptions, feelings, perceptions and relationships (Le Roux, 2002).  

It is very important to look at our own biases as we have learned in order to make sure we can ask the questions needed to educate ourselves as well as make our classrooms, child cares, etc… the best environments for learning that we can.  If we do not address these attitudes/biases, we will not be able to establish an environment that is welcoming for everyone.

Educators, as stated above, must genuinely examine their attitudes and assumptions not only about diverse cultures but also about the diverse types of families the children live in.  These attitudes and assumptions will not allow us, as educators, to reach the point of genuine openness to others and therefore, not make our classrooms/child cares an inviting place for others to want to become involved.

Also, once we examine our attitudes and assumptions, it allows us, as individuals as well as educators, to feel comfortable in asking questions and finding out answers from others in how to improve our programs, curriculums, etc… (Gestwicki, 2007).

References

Gestwicki, C. (2007). Home, school, and community relations. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning.

Hindman, A. H., & Wasik, B. A. (2010). Head start families sharing home language and literacy experiences. doi: 10.1080/15240751003737919

Le Roux, J. (2002). Effective educators are culturally competent communicators. Intercultural Education, 13(1), 37-48. doi:10.1080/14675980120112922

Parent and family stories. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2012, from

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about/stories/pfs

Santamaria, L. J. (2009). Culturally Responsive Differentiated Instruction: Narrowing Gaps between Best Pedagogical Practices Benefiting All Learners. Teachers College Record, 111(1), 214-247.