dedicated to parents wanting to be involved and effective in the education of their children
At the National Conference on Parent Involvement in 1976 in San Anselmo, California we all received a bookmark in our kits with the following inscription:
The First School Laws in America (Massachusetts, 1642) embodied all the basic principles which underlie the American School System today. These are:
1. Universal education of youth is essential […]
“Implement the Rhetoric” was the rallying cry of a group of parents - Citizen Action to Reform Education (CARE) – in the 70’s and 80’s in Vancouver BC (Canada). Tokenism, lip service, and symbolic use of parents were frustrating many parents. Below is a report I prepared in 1980.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION: THE STATE OF THE […]
V. BUILDING HOME-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP
Regarding the question of school/family relations we became aware of the yet unpublished article by Dr. John D. Friesen, Department of Counseling Psychology, UBC, entitled “The Family and School: An Uneasy Relationship.” In it he writes that
The thesis of the paper is that parents should assume an important role in the child’s education […]
III. CURRICULUM DECISION-MAKING
We note that the general principle in a free, democratic society is that public institutions must reflect the public’s will and not the self-interest of those who run the institutions. The Let’s Talk About Schools discussion paper (1985) reflects this basic principle:
The Provincial curriculum is presently determined by elected representatives of the people – […]
The Family and Education Committee was established by the BC Council for the Family in the Spring of 1985. On August 26th the President of the BCCF wrote to the Minister of Education requesting assistance with respect to gaining information and materials for examination. The letter emphasized the following:
- the Council’s concern that many problems of […]
In 1984, The BC Council on the Family was again called to action on education. A concern surfaced about home-school relations when a brief was circulated among board members which expressed the long-standing concerns of an ex-school trustee of 13 years. The brief was sent to the Council because of its declared support for the institution of […]
A workshop on Education and the Family found delegates again expressing “frustration with the state of parent-school relations in many of their schools”.
Continuing to post the 1987 Report on Family and Education (See Part 1, 19 Oct/07)…
The 1979 Annual General Meeting of the BC Council for the Family held five workshops for its members, one […]
At the Conference on the Family (BC, Canada) 1976, considerable attention was focused on the alienating effect public schools were felt to have on families and the potential (but often unused) power they had to help strengthen family competencies.
The Family and Education Committee was struck to examine these concerns and issues and make recommendations. Following is […]
Why is there Resistance to Meaningful Parent Involvement?
“There are many compelling reasons for schools and districts to pay more than lip service to parental involvement,” said reporter, Katherine Wagner, in her column School Watch in the Maple Ridge and Pitt meadows Times, August 31, 2007.
Her article, entitled “PAC is more than just fundraising” (PAC: Parent […]
Why are Parents Excluded from Schools?
Some reasons parents are excluded from schools are:
Misdirected “Professionalism” – experts know best, “Don’t teach your children, we will have to unteach them.”
Concealment – having a captive audience and a monopoly provides a cover for […]