Stereotyping in Education

Stereotyping and discrimination in education concern the total school community. On Nov. 13, 1976 in Nanaimo, BC (Canada) a conference on the topic was sponsored by Malaspina Community College and the district teachers’ association.
[The following notes, though 31 years old, are posted here for two reasons: 1) to provide a historical record and snapshot of an area of concern in the 70’s, and 2) to assist in comparing past concerns and issues with current practice and climate.]
Tunya Audain, coordinator of Education Advisory, led the workshop on Beyond the Stereotype: Parent Participation in the Formal Education Process.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q. Are there conditions in the formal education system that could be detrimental to the education of children, and which parents should know about, and take a part in correcting?
A. Yes. Parents should be concerned about the following:
1. teacher/school board collective bargaining
2. student suspensions
3. student records—labeling, mislabeling
4. vandalism, “disrupted” youth, alienated youth
5. stereotyping of parents
6. “innovations”, experiments, psychological and pseudo-psychological techniques
7. down-grading of the basic skills
8. absence of meaningful standards, evaluation, assessment
9. lack of parent participation in education
10. lack of long-range planning
11. inadequate educational and career counseling
12. teacher education unrelated to the realities of the classroom
13. poor information services, little two-way communication between system and consumers (parents, students, other public)
Q. What can parents do about their concerns? Are there opportunities where parents, teachers and other community members can get together on common concerns?
A. Yes. Here are a few areas where parents and others who care about children can develop positive routes to understanding and problem-solving:
1. Formation of parent and school advisory councils in every school
2. Useful information services, genuine two-way communication
3. Parents and other lay people involved in assessment procedures
4. Parents to be prepared (through materials, workshops, etc.) to participate meaningfully in discussions in each school
Q. What is the basic minimum each parent should expect NOW in their child’s school?
A.
1. Easy, comfortable access to the child’s school, teacher and principal
2. All information the school has on the child; all information on the programs the child is in.
3. No negative effect or reprisals to the child because of parent’s involvement.
Q. Is there any evidence that there will ever be a shift toward a greater voice for parents in education and in the education of their children?
A. Yes, and the initiative is coming mainly from two thrusts—parents themselves and legislators. At least, that is the experience in the United States. The recent National Conference on Parent Involvement (Nov. 7-10, San Anselmo, California), which I attended, produced the following ground-breaking achievements:
1. A massive base of information, examples, networks, supporting parent involvement
2. The beginning of a list of influential people willing to be counted as supporting parent involvement—legislators, superintendents of education, trustees, senior educators, community leaders.
3. A permanent organization to promote future conferences, disseminate information and promote meaningful parent involvement
4. Adoption of a statement of principles supporting the inalienable right of parents to be involved in the education of their children and the community’s children
5. A call for:
Legislation and Policies supporting the principle that parents should be involved in the decisions that affect them and their children.
Information for all parents about their rights, services, options
Professional Responsibility to assist parents to serve as their children’s primary educators and advocates
Support for parents to obtain those skills and competencies required to carry out their parental obligations
Sense of Community to respect individual and cultural differences
6. A letter of protest to the National Education Association (the largest teacher union in the US) about their handbook, “The Teacher and Parent-Teacher Conferences which tends to stereotype parents as “Hostile, Aggressive Parents”, “Help-rejecting Complainers:”, “Overwhelmed”, etc.
7. The beginning of a Handbook for Children of Involved Parents to help children understand why their parents have to be involved on their behalf and that there may be problems in the school for them as a result, and how to deal with their concerns.