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(Holloman&Yates, 2008).
| Major Issue: Lack of Parental Support | |
| Best Practice Language Examplesfrom Literature Review and Local Expert InterviewsSample BPL Categories: Words of Agreement; Words of Understanding; Words of Wisdom | |
| Words of Agreement | |
| BPL Literature Review“Part of this philosophy is an implicit belief that all public-school stakeholders will recognize their roles in making schools a success. Administrators and teachers alike must believe that parents, when given a well-defined role in their children’s education, will not only agree to accept responsibility but will also perform to the best of their ability” (Weil,1998 p. 7). | BPL Examples from Local Experts“Work with your child and see what they’re doing and have those expectations of success then we’ll work together to form a partnership…it’s like a safety net…we’re (teacher and parents) going to form a safety net under the student to bounce you back up if you start to fall.”“Let me work with you and I’ll make sure that you feel comfortable about how we’re working together and our working together will make your child feel comfortable in school.” |
| Words of Understanding | |
| BPL Literature Review“Many of these parents have had bad experiences in school themselves, and thus, are reluctant to be involved with the school, even as a parent. They may feel intimidated by the schools and unsure of their contribution” (Kaufman, Perry,&Prentice, 2001, p. 6). | BPL Examples from Local Experts“I would talk to the parent to try to reassure them that school is a comfort zone. You’re supposed to feel safe and comfortable here. I don’t mind if they just talk with me and try to express their feelings about what happened that’s making them feel uncomfortable. Maybe we could work on some ways to get that comfort level back up. I would try to work with the parent myself one-on-one.” |
| Words of Wisdom | |
| BPL Literature Review“Parents know far more about their children than any school ever will and they have far more ‘learning time’ with their children than the school does” (Wherry, 2007, p. 8).“Climbing out from between the rock of diminishing parental support and the hard wall of diminishing positive external support will requires the collective effort of schools, parents, communities, businesses, and students” (Weil,1998, p. 7). | BPL Examples“You might not know how to teach my subject area—but you know how to monitor your child and you know how to talk to your child—we are all on the same team here—and if we can figure our a way that you and I can communicate directly—we can probably short circuit any problems.”“I use various words that talk about “inviting”—I invite you to come to this—I invite you—I’m not asking them to come because there is a problem. The other word I use a lot is “compliment”—I want to compliment your child about…but I have this other little area of concern. I always start with something positive—always! |
(Holloman&Yates, 2008).
In his book, Mobilizing the Community to Help Students Succeed, Price (2008) advocates the importance of community involvement in the educational realm and views communities as “a largely underappreciated and untapped resource” in the arena of school reform (p. 21). We have learned—and continue to learn—a great deal from our experiences and involvement in this type of research. Community engagement scholarship is extremely complex and interpersonal. It is service-oriented and requires a strong set of interpersonal skills and a willingness to listen to all stakeholders. As a reminder to ourselves and for the consideration of others, we offer the following eight keys to community engagement scholarship success.
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