Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/considering-our-curriculum-in-working-with-families/5013490/
Over the last ten years or so, the term parent partnerships has become part of our professional discourse. This is an improvement over the earlier term parent education, which conveys the idea of an unequal relationship where teachers are the experts and parents are in need of lessons from us. As a profession, we've come to recognize the implied discounting, if not arrogance of this attitude, and how it restricts our ability to form mutually respectful relationships with the children's parents.Understanding that our success with children is inextricably tied to our relationships with their families doesn't mean we necessarily know how to form these partnerships. It's a complicated process, given our limited contact and time for conversation, and the inherent tension in a relationship where someone is paying for our services and accountability is seen as a one-way street.
As I watch programs struggle with this, I've been searching for a way to shake loose the habitual way we tend to think of and refer to working with families. We need to draw on the best of what we are already doing while breaking out of the box that confines our thinking. This leads me to ask: What if we ...