A game plan for gaining a seat at the table
If they won’t give you a seat at the table, then bring a folding chair. Shirley Chisholm
Last week I had the pleasure of spending time with a group of parents who are fed up with being left out of the decision making process when it comes to their children’s schools and their education. We asked each of them to go around the room and share a quote that describes why they’ve been called to lead, and this one stood out the most to me. It also got me thinking as we approach the start of another school year, how will I as a parent actively insist and ensure that I’m a part of the decision making process for my daughters’ education?
Full disclosure, I spent the better part of the last three years working for our local school district and gleaning an understanding of some of the real barriers that exist for parents when it comes to gaining a seat at the table. What I learned was both disheartening and lit a fire in me to find a better alternative to forging true parental partnerships. In general public school districts aren’t really set up well to be responsive or inclusive to parents. Many decisions are made in a top down approach and there is often a lack of true transparency in the decision-making process. Another key barrier is lacking shared language. I saw time after time district officials attempt to explain a decision using ed-speak (short for education jargon) that simply made no sense to the average parent. As a result, usually only the most well educated, or those with the free time to learn could truly engage.
This is why I’m advocating a better approach. I call it the bring your own folding chair approach. Here’s how it works in our household. It begins with my wife and I sitting down with each of our school aged children and deciding with them what their goals will be for this upcoming school year. We’ve already had conversations about what their strengths and passions are and chosen extracurricular activities aligned to those things. But the idea of setting our own academic and personal growth goals, this is something new for us.
Anyone with a child in public school in America is familiar with the idea of high stakes testing and the pervasive culture of a one size fits all approach in education. As Sir Ken Robsinson writes:
If children are made to sit down all day long doing low-grade clerical work for a test that seems pointless, it is no wonder they get anxious or tune out. So would you.
We want them to have agency with their teachers over what they learn and how they learn. Most importantly, we want school to be fun and engaging in a way that continues to develop their creativity, curiosity about life, and talents. So we intend to sit down with their teachers sharing a copy of the document that we’ve created at home, basically our own simple one page education plan. Our hope is that throughout the year we’ll revisit progress along the lines of what they’ve identified as their own goals.
But that’s just the beginning of our folding chair approach. We have to also influence the broader environment of the school to ensure that the culture is conducive to the type of learning environment that we believe our children deserve. I want my daughter’s teachers to feel celebrated, appreciated, and supported so that they have the real bandwidth to do what they do best. I want there to be an open line of communication and trust between our administration and families. I want other parents to feel like they’re ambassadors for the type of learning happening in our school.
As parents we should be in a position where we can articulate what our school cares about most, and why that matters for our children. We don’t talk enough about our collective why in education, and that is likely our biggest mistake, because we end up misaligned on what we’re trying to accomplish.
There are a few simple ways that every parent can prepare now to participate in the decision making process at their school for this year:
- Find out who makes decisions for your school and determine to be there when they meet. If your school is a typical traditional public school, decisions are likely made at the board level in a top down approach depending on the size of your district. However, if you attend a charter school or a school that has it’s own local governance structure, then that body might have more influence. Either way, find out when the decision makers meet and show up.
- Do your research. Knowledge is power, and in education we do a good job hiding the right information. What’s in your school’s budget? Is it aligned to the right priorities? How are students measured? Is it aligned to what you believe is best for your child? Once you have answers to some of these questions, you’ll also have an opinion about where to advocate.
- Get organized or join a group. Perhaps that means joining your local PTO or PTA. Perhaps that means creating or organizing another group altogether. The point is, your voice will always be stronger when lifted up with others.
When parents show up it matters, but it’s just a start. Schools and districts take notice and this ultimately debunks some of the myths about how much parents care. Still, my hope is that as parents gain access to the table, they speak up to voice their opinions and are heard and a dialogue begins. This is the essence of true shared decision making. When this happens we’re all the richer for it, including our students.
SDW3
