Practical Tips & Suggestions

This section offers some helpful considerations, approaches, and strategies that can be harnessed to support the realization of the guiding principles of the topic discussed in the module. It also offers tips and suggestions which can be adapted or personalized to suit a teacher’s or educator’s specific context or situation; and helps support shared understanding of promising or effective practices in working with parents and guardians.

Elementary

Secondary

Notwithstanding anything in this section, teachers who are considering adopting or adapting any of these tips or suggestions are encouraged and reminded to do so in an informed way that a) respects collective agreements, b) adheres to board policies and other regulations and laws governing the profession, and c) does not adversely affect their own well-being.

As elementary teachers and educators, we can work with administrators to invite parents’ and guardians’ contributions to school life in these ways:

  • Share with parents different ways of becoming involved in the school and then ask parents to determine ways they might want to become more involved in school life and activities, based on their level of commitment and available time, energy and resources.
  • Seek feedback from parents about suggestions for sustaining a positive school climate and listen for their attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about parent involvement/engagement in school life.
  • Try to allay parents’ anxiety about factors, such as time commitment, that influence decisions about becoming involved in school life. Look for clues about parents’ interests and strengths.
  • Adapt parent volunteer or involvement activities and opportunities to reflect current school/board/federation initiatives and priorities.
  • Encourage parents and guardians in the school community to identify promising community-specific strategies that may encourage greater levels of involvement or engagement of parents and guardians in the school community, especially for parents who might not interact regularly with the school.
  • Recognize and celebrate parent contributions (e.g., volunteer roles).
  • Consider the following element adapted from Epstein’s (2009) Framework of Six Types of Involvement to develop a model that works in your school context:

Type 6. Collaborating with Community –  [Encourage parents to] identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development.

 

Sample practices:

  • information for students and families on community health, cultural, recreational, social support and other programs and services
  • information on community activities and programs that link to learning skills and work habits, including summer programs for students and programs on March Break.

(As cited in Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes, The Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario, Ontario Principals’ Council, 2011, p. 85)

This section offers some considerations, approaches, and strategies that could be harnessed to support working with parents and guardians. These suggestions should be personalized by a teacher or educator to meet their own needs and to respond to their specific context. Furthermore, clearly some tips reflect approaches that cannot be undertaken by an individual teacher.

Notwithstanding anything in this section, teachers who are considering adopting or adapting any of these tips or suggestions are encouraged and reminded to do so in an informed way that a) respects collective agreements, b) adheres to board policies and other regulations and laws governing the profession, and c) does not adversely affect their own well-being.

As secondary teachers and educators, we can invite parents’ and guardians’ contributions to school life in these ways

  • Share with parents different ways of becoming involved in the school and then ask parents to determine ways they might want to become more involved in school life and activities, based on their level of commitment and available time, energy and resources.
  • Seek feedback from parents about suggestions for sustaining a positive school climate and solicit their attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about parent involvement/engagement in school life.
  • Try to allay parents’ anxiety about factors, such as time commitment, that influence decisions about becoming involved in school life. Look for clues about parents’ interests and strengths.
  • Adapt parent volunteer or involvement activities and opportunities to reflect current school/board/federation initiatives and priorities.
  • Encourage parents and guardians in the school community to identify promising community-specific strategies that may encourage greater levels of involvement or engagement of parents and guardians in the school community, especially for parents who might not interact regularly with the school.
  • Recognize and celebrate parent contributions (e.g., volunteer roles).
  • Consider the following element adapted from Epstein’s (2009) Framework of Six Types of Involvement to develop a model that works in your school context

Type 6. Collaborating with Community – [Encourage parents to] identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development.

Sample practices:

  •  information for students and families on community health, cultural, recreational, social support and other programs and services
  •  information on community activities and programs that link to learning skills and work habits, including summer programs for students and programs on March Break.

(As cited in Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes, The Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario, Ontario Principals’ Council, 2011, p. 85)