Parents as Partners

On Thursday last week, I had the chance to hear Sir John Abbot speak about learning in the 21st Century.  He takes an interesting perspective on how history has shaped our ability to learn and the lessons we should draw from that in how we structure our schools.  Key to his thinking is the importance of a nurturing and supportive home environment, hence the importance of parents as partners in learning.

Sir John talked about the elements for students to be successful and refers to a "three-legged stool that can find balance on any surface".  The three legs of the stool are home, community, and school, which suggests that school is only a part of the learning journey we are all on.  The home, plays a critical role in the development of the child, particularly during the first five years.  When humans are born, their brain is only about 40% developed, which means that a lot of brain development is environmental and not pre-disposed.  As a result, our innate abilities must be "activated" through stimulation in the environment, "use it or lose it", whereby lack of stimulation at an early age means brain connections aren't made and that area of development is shut off.  A nurturing and supportive home environment helps to activate our learning at an early age and stimulates our brains.  While this is critical in the first five years, it continues to be important throughout our lives in the creation of a supportive and encouraging environment for learning.

Jesse Jackson once said, "no parent is too poor to turn the TV off and labour alongside their child."  In order for our children to be successful we must have parents in partnership with the teacher and school to support student learning.  Engaging our parents in understanding the changes that we are trying to make in education is important for the long-term success of our students.  We have to make the message strong enough to bring people together.

Transitions

This past week we had two events for our grade six students to begin their transition to middle school.  In only a few short months our grade sixes will be saying good-bye to elementary and hello to the next chapter in their education.  This is true for many of our parents as well who will be leaving David Cameron with their child(ren).  Our two feeder schools, Spencer and Dunsmuir, have done a great job in welcoming everyone and making them feel at home right away.

Over the next few months, these transition events will continue for both students and parents, helping to acquaint them with the routines and layout of these schools.  We are fortunate in this district to have such great places to send our students.  We know it is hard to let go of a place many have know for seven years (more for some parents) and moving to something so different, and so big.  This is why so much effort is put into these transition activities.  Students get a chance to see the strong performing arts programs at each of the schools, meet with school counsellors, administrators, teachers, and other students through a variety of events.

A huge thank-you goes out to the staffs at both Dunsmuir and Spencer for the care they show with our students.  I know it is relief to our parents to know that their children will be in good hands.

Supporting the needs of all

In the past, I have blogged about "fair not being equal".  Fair is the process of figuring out what each person needs in order to be successful and move forward with their learning.  Equal means that everyone gets the same thing, regardless of circumstance.

I am reminded of this again as we struggle to support the behaviour needs of a couple of students at school who are going through a difficult time.  The circumstances in each case are very different and therefore require a different approach.  The process of uncovering, and working with the student to figure out what they are trying to get from their behaviours is slow and sometimes frustrating as set backs continue.  Each of the students' issues are manifesting as outbursts of behaviour, in which case the notion of equal would mean that the same consequences are dispensed to each - but how would this support their particular needs and the particular struggle that they are facing?

I think that for the most part, our staff is extremely attuned to this notion of fairness over equality, but it is a struggle for everyone when we consider the competing interests.  As educators we want to take the time to help students learn from their mistakes, but we must also take into account what's fair for: other students who are faced with these behaviours, other staff who sometimes take the brunt of these outbursts of anger and frustration, and other parents who see the behaviour manifest but don't know the details behind the scene.  These are some of the factors that weigh in our decisions as to the best way to support the individual and the broader community of learners as well.

Treating everyone the same and handing out the same consequences in each circumstance would certainly make my life easier, but it would also take away our credibility as an educators.  Education is so much more than math and reading, it is the whole person that requires our attention, our support, and our love.  I am also reminded of advice a colleague gave me years ago:  "what is best for the student is not always easiest for the adults involved."  With this in mind, and with the many successes I have seen over my career, we continue to find what is best for the learner and work hard to make a difference.