How COVID-19 has Amplified the Need for Strong Collaboration Between Home and School
Celebrating Take Your Family to School Week 2021
By Kerrie LaRosa, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Parent Coach
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller.
This week, we celebrate Take Your Family to School Week. This year, as the pandemic rages on and remote or hybrid learning remains the norm across the country, this observance is a time to recognize the importance of family and school collaboration.
Educating children without family involvement is like trying to solve a puzzle when you are missing pieces. Learning is not limited to school. Whether reading, playing, arguing with a sibling or fixing themselves a snack, children are constantly learning through everyday activities. A child’s job is to learn and effective learning requires a strong relationship between parents and teachers. Fostering the connection between home and school is a passion that was ignited in me long before the pandemic. My colleague, Gravity Goldberg, Author and Literacy consultant, and I have worked together to enhance children’s education by improving the connection between home and school. We have created a space dedicated to giving parents and teachers tools to build that connection. www.teachersandparentcoaches.com.
Parental Involvement in Learning: Scaffolding, Not Rescuing
I would like to clarify that family involvement does not imply that parents need to take on the responsibility and ownership for their child’s work and grades. A healthy level of parent involvement promotes a child’s independence, builds their confidence, and encourages accountability with their OWN work. A parent’s involvement is about scaffolding a child’s learning rather than rescuing them from the challenges of school. Although well-intentioned, a parent who rescues a child and saves them from making mistakes or facing setbacks is doing them a disservice. By shielding children from failure, you rob them of the opportunity to learn from mistakes and develop the skills to recover from setbacks.
There are many benefits of close collaboration between home and school. According to Henderson, A.T., and K.L. Mapp. 2002. A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. “Regardless of family income or background, students whose parents are involved in their schooling are more likely to have higher grades and test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school.”
Why Is Collaboration Between Home and School Important?
Collaboration between home and school can lead to an increased understanding of the student and the challenges he faces. Information about how a child is functioning at home and school leads to an increased understanding of the issues and identification of the most effective solutions.
For example, if a child is having a hard time concentrating in class and communicates with the student’s caregivers they may discover that the child is not getting enough sleep and they can work together to meet the needs impacting school.
Parents and teachers observe children and interact with them in different settings. Understanding how they are doing in each setting can lead to a greater understanding of the child and how they work. A teacher may not know that a child is struggling to follow simple directions at home as well as in school if a parent did not communicate with them. And a parent may not realize that this information is helpful for the teacher to know unless the teacher reaches out to the parent. When possible regular communication between home and school when children are not doing well can lead to improved outcomes in education.
Accountability Through Connection
Communication between parents and teachers also fosters more student accountability. When a parent and teacher engage in regular communication, they can set the same expectations for a child and hold them accountable for their work. They can reinforce the same messages and increase the likelihood that a student will follow through and meet the expectations. For example, when a child reports that he already completed his homework a parent may not have reason to believe differently unless the teacher sent a message asking about the missing assignment. Often I have found that it is a miscommunication about the due date or even a technological issue that led to the missing assignment.
A strong home and school connection has always been crucial for children’s education, but now it is even more critical since the lines between home and school are blurred.
Parents have found themselves filling the role of teacher and having a front-row seat to how their children learn, focus, and engage in school. Parents have been thrust into this role of technical support, tutor, proctor for children in virtual school. It has forced parents to be more involved in their child’s daily education. But, they are only a piece of the puzzle. Teachers are missing the opportunity to observe how children are reacting to pandemic learning. When students are in the classroom a teacher has the ability to identify students who are struggling, to read their facial expressions to see if they are understanding a concept, and following along. This is virtually impossible over zoom especially if their camera is off. Teachers rely on feedback from parents to know whether a child is struggling, missing key concepts or needs extra support.
So how do we promote the home and school connection in a way that best supports children? I have adapted the key components of a partnership that Goldberg and I created to work for the current learning environment.
The Key Aspects of Partnership
Effective collaboration depends on using these key components of partnerships. In order to have a true partnership, both parties must be willing to participate, trust that the child’s best interests are at the forefront, and make positive assumptions that both parents and teachers are trying to make online learning work.
During these hard times, it is easy to blame and question other’s decisions. But, it is possible that a teacher is working really hard, making the best decisions possible with the information they have and at the same time it is not working for the student or their family. It is also possible that a parent is working hard to help their child adapt to online school and at the same time, the limitations that the school has with virtual learning are not quite meeting that child’s needs.
Collaboration is crucial. It is not about demanding what you need, it is about working together to achieve a common goal.
Schools and parents have a shared vested interest in the continuity of learning. The way to achieve that goal may vary, but working together increases the opportunity of coming up with a solution that works for everyone. Time, patience, bandwidth (figurative and literal) are at a premium. Setting realistic expectations about what you can do, what your child can do, and what you expect of others is essential to a manageable plan. Using these key components of a partnership in your communication with the school can improve the collaborative process. Here is an example of communication that uses these key components.
Example:
“Thank you for working so hard to figure out online learning and for the extra support you have been offering my daughter. I know this is a challenging time and you are being asked to do something extraordinary — transition to online learning with little time or preparation. Despite all of your hard work, my daughter is having a hard time adjusting to the zoom calls. She is having a hard time staying focused and is distracted by her own picture on the screen as well as her classmates. I am sure she is also distracting you and the other students when she is moving around. We are working on some strategies at home, but unfortunately I have to be on work calls at the same time as the zoom and therefore cannot help her stay focused. Would it be ok with you, if she was able to sit and listen with the video and microphone off and see if her engagement improves? She seems to listen better and get more out of the zoom calls when he is not distracted by other students, or worried about her little brother embarrassing him by popping into the screen. Please let me know what you think.”
Through this communication example, you can see ways that the parent used the key components of trusting the teacher, using positive assumptions and expressing their shared vested interest to lay the foundation for an effective partnership. The parent also demonstrated respect by acknowledging the impact of her child’s struggles on the teacher and the class and making recommendations that would be mutually beneficial. Additionally, the parent set realistic expectations for what is manageable for the teacher and made an effort to collaborate with the teacher rather than make demands on the teacher.
In Conclusion
It takes a village to foster deep learning, promote social-emotional skills that lead to academic success. Now, more than ever we need that village and we need home and school to work together as a team to provide the support and scaffolding children need.
Kerrie LaRosa is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Parent Coach who has been working with children and families for more than fifteen years. Kerrie supports parents by building on their strengths and empowering them with knowledge about child development and the tools to address common child behaviors. Kerrie promotes stronger parent-child relationships by helping parents understand their children better, improve their connections and navigate developmental stages. In addition to one-on-one coaching, Kerrie speaks to groups on a range of topics including child development, discipline, and social-emotional intelligence. Kerrie earned her Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University School of Social Work and her Bachelor of Arts from Boston College. A native of California, Kerrie currently resides outside of Washington, DC, in Maryland with her husband and children. Connect with Kerrie kerrielarosa@gmail.com, Twitter: @RosaParentCoach, Facebook: LaRosaParentCoach
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