Education Advisory

[TO READERS: Is this 1982 article (25 yrs ago) still relevant in 2007? Please comment. TA]

The Canadian School Executive, September, 1982

THE COMMUNITY AND SCHOOLS
Parents and Citizens in Schools: An International View

By Tunya Audain

Most parents resent being fed education jargon and sweet niceties about their children in school. Instead they want to know the what and the why of schools so that they can participate intelligently in planning for their children. When they are intimidated and frustrated, they feel diminished as parents.

Parents claim there would not be the apathy they are charged with if genuine interaction replaced present superficiality.

Parents are not the only ones expressing dissatisfaction with the state of school communications. A recent conference I attended brings the added information that business leaders and other citizens are also growing impatient with the lack of dialogue between community and schools.

It’s not just the tough economic times but a gathering conviction that schools have failed to deliver their promise that causes people to say, “We cannot afford schools which hide behind expensive barricades they have built for themselves. We know we need educated people in our complex and confusing world and schools must be either more responsive to the real needs as we see them or alternatives must be found.”

And alternatives are, indeed surfacing: home education, computer-assisted learning, growth of private schools.

Government efforts at democratization

Policy-makers and politicians also see the writing on the wall: break up bureaucratic and educator control of schools or suffer loss of democracy, individual initiative, and responsiveness to community needs. Nineteenth Century organizational models are not suitable for today’s education scene. Thus, increasingly, we have seen legislation and policies which force a greater interaction between schools and their community.

Various community-based governance councils have been instituted in West Germany, New Zealand, Italy, Quebec, and several states in the U.S. In British Columbia, after Brian Smith, the previous Minister of Education, completed his three month fact-finding tour of the province, at the top of his list of promises was “to establish, in conjunction with school boards, parent consultative committees in every school.”

But wherever you go, the fly in the ointment is establishment resistance and inertia– immobilismo in Italy; in France, attempts to make parents “docile stooges” of the teaching profession; and in B.C., a letter to the Education Minister from the School Trustees Association opposing legislation on parent involvement. Internationally, school administrations and teacher unions have a dismal record as far as support for democratization of schools.

However, the First International Conference on Parent/Citizen Involvement in Education held in Salt Lake City in July 1982 is being seen as a turning point which should be evident in the years to come. It was the first time that the state of the art was seen from a world perspective.

An even more significant first, and a real breakthrough for the movement, came when two superintendents from large school districts spoke out in support of parent and citizen participation in school decision-making. They dared to break rank from a virtually united front of impregnable resistance to “outsiders”–not for them the empty rhetoric and lip service so common in the field.

It was refreshing to hear from Superintendent M. Donald Thomas about how shared governance councils work in Salt Lake City. Parents are part of decision-making at the local schools and share with staff the responsibility for school improvement. The school board believes that personnel evaluation is the bedrock of quality education. Employee evaluation is done annually, and under their “review of services” policy even parents or students can initiate an inquiry into a staff member’s job adequacy. In the last seven years this school district has terminated 40 administrators and teachers for incompetence alone (apart from other reasons such as illegality, immorality, or injury to school children).

It was equally refreshing to hear Billy Reagan, Superintendent of the Houston School District, talk about the FAIL-SAFE program

For too long now many educators have established the schoolhouse as their exclusive domain. The parent’s role in a child’s education has not been encouraged or supported. The old adage, ‘teacher knows best’ has unfortunately become an exclusionary phrase that has left parents out…”

The program was designed to provide for close dialogue with parents, teachers, and students. It brings the family into shared accountability for education of children.

Administrators in favor of openness

As discussions opened up, other administrators admitted that they were glad when policies forced them into greater interaction with their staffs and public. The pay-off for them was not only better decision-making but a heightened sense of professionalism and job satisfaction as well. Gone was the defensiveness and duplicity of misguided loyalty dictating that, while it was OK to admit among the ranks that education systems were adrift, the public must hear only that things couldn’t be better.

I also heard of new policies which mandated effective planning models and how these encouraged better consultation and communication with a larger public. Gone were the old management standbys of “divide-and-rule” or “muddling-through.”

Considerable interest was displayed by parents and educators alike in the new book by James Leary, Educators on Trial: Identification and Prevention of Classroom Malpractice.

Increasing the quality of the dialogue

How to nurture a spirit of co-operation and openness was a major concern to delegates. A planning session which gathered together a yeasty mix of people from wide geographic and organizational backgrounds (including respresentatives from business, teacher unions, administrator groups, parent advocacy groups, different cultural populations, PTAs, and teacher training agencies) dealt with the matter head on. One of the first questions asked was, “How do we avoid parent/citizen involvement in education becoming another ‘fad’ that educators will latch onto, co-opt, and corrupt?” (It was a tough-talking conference!)

Five imperatives were identified on which progress was to be charted one year hence. They are:

1. Building a strong, international support network for those who work on behalf of parent and public interest in education.
2. Sharing knowledge, tools-of-the-trade, and resources that make for successful partnership experiences and help promote the cause.
3. Encouraging at local and national levels all those groups and individuals who should endorse and support parent/citizen involvement in education (unions, professional groups, policy-makers, community and family agencies, etc.)
4. Persuading training agencies and universities to prepare teachers and administrators for more skilled and meaningful relationships with parents and public.
5. Increasing the dialogue and understanding among all participants in the educational enterprise (through face-to-face interaction, school councils, inter-disciplinary discussions and planning, regional and local conferences and workshops, and articles and media coverage).

Delegates from Canada have already agreed to form a network.

The here and now

Of course, there are existing examples where schools work in close harmony with their communities. These we must recognize and build on, even while we strive to help those who limp along.

And, as a new school year rolls around, here are some tips to make sure school starts off with a BANG.

Begin with a warm welcome. The first newsletter home invites full participation and outlines the many opportunities.

Arrange the best Meet The Teacher Night possible. Parents meet the principal and their child’s teachers and get a good picture of the curriculum expectations for the year.

Notify parents about the parent group, the executive phone numbers and the first meeting. Let parents know the school welcomes and works closely with the parent group. This endorsement is important if new parents are to be encouraged to join the group’s efforts. (If there is no parent group, help organize one.)

Give each family a handbook that outlines the school philosophy and goals, school rules, policies, and programs and gives timetables and a calendar of events and school holidays. It should also explain how to pursue a concern or whom to contact with questions.

Look forward to good, healthy dialogue in 1982/83.

References
1. For current information about efforts at school governance reform in a dozen countries: The Politics of School Government, edited by George Baron, Pergamon Press, 1980.
2. Educational malpractice is described in: Educators on Trial: The Identification and Prevention of Classroom Malpractice, by James Leary, 1981. (Available from Teachers Central Clearinghouse, 9401 General Dr., Plymouth, Michigan, 48170 U.S.A.)
3. For sample material and price lists from an existing North American network: Network, National Committee for Citizens in Education, 410 Wilde Lake Village Green, Columbia, Maryland, 21044
4. Proceedings of the First International Conference for Parent/Citizen Involvement in Schools, “Put the Public Back in Education,” from: M. Donald Thomas, Superintendent, Salt Lake City School District, 440East First South, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84111,U.S.A.
5. For more information about the forming of a Canadian network contact: Eva Huber, I8 Armshore Drive, Halifax, N.S. B3N 1M5, 902 477-1887

Tunya Audain is a parent who writes about education. From her home in West Vancouver, B.C. she also coordinates Education Advisory, a service promoting participation in education.