CHANGE IS NOT A FOUR-LETTER WORD

I was working with a teacher a year ago who was in the midst of just such a year. On top of having a difficult group, the children's parents were very vocal and wary also. They had heard that Mrs. B. was teaching "differently." Parents weren't at all sure that they liked the fact that she didn't have children sitting at desks in rows doing worksheets all day. They wondered if the children could be really learning. Wasn't all that activity and noise really an indication that Mrs. B. wasn't a very good teacher? And what was this stuff the teacher called developmentally appropriate practices anyway?!! Wasn't this another example of the stuff that critics in the popular press and media referred to as "feel good education and the self-esteem movement?"

Needless to say, that year was one that Mrs. B. was happy to say good-bye to in June. She was determined that she wasn't going to live through another year like it. She accepted that every once in awhile she was going to have a very challenging group of children, but she wanted ideas for being proactive with her families so that she could share her philosophy and strategies in ways that families could understand and support.

Teachers increasingly describe children as challenging, so too are families and communities. Gone are the days when the teachers' role is to shut her door and teach to a group of compliant children. The trust that the public had in its officials and public servants has evaporated in many places. Public education has come under public scrutiny in ways that are to teachers often bewildering and frightening.

While the research is telling us that we need to change how we work with children, many demanding public voices are telling us, "If it was good enough for us, it's good enough for our children." Many parents want to see their children learn the way they did. They want their children to have a better education than they had, which to many of them means not only what they had, but more of it! Families are rightfully uncomfortable and distrustful of strategies that they don't understand.

Where does this distrust come from? The publication of "A Nation At Risk" in 1984, sent alarm signals nationwide. Since then there have been innumerable reports in the newspapers and on television about the deterioration of public education. Answers to these concerns typically are published in professional education journals and never reach the light of day where the public has access to them. (If you would like more information about what educators are saying to answer the critics go to "What's Right With American Public Education.")The teaching profession has been a very insular one historically. We are accustomed to talking with each other, but not with our publics. We are not accustomed to being proactive; we have never had to be.

And so, the pendulum has swung back and forth and we have ridden the swing, pushed and pulled in multiple directions. We have become a rather cynical group. It is not uncommon to hear in a gathering of teachers, "This too will pass," as some new strategy or philosophy is shared.

These forces in education have propelled all of us into a period of disequilibrium. Just as disequilibrium is a marker for growth and change for children, it signals an opportunity for growth and change for educators as well. These negative currents are forcing us to redefine our role, to broaden it beyond the confines of the classroom. If we are to restructure education for children, we must become teachers of families as well. We must be able to share what we are doing in the classroom and describe how our strategies and materials contribute to the acquisition of skills for children. If we don't do this sharing, we must expect continuing distrust and roadblocks to change. We cannot go far without the partnership of parents!

What can teachers and administrators do to have an impact on the direction that education takes in the future?

Are you getting dizzy from riding the pendulum? Would you like to get off and become a force in winding the clock instead? There are some things that other school districts and teachers have been successful in doing that have impacted on public perceptions and support. They have involved families early when we are planning change. They have become better at describing to families and communities what they do in the classroom.

The remainder of this article will share some successful strategies and resources for this essential partnership with the public.

District/Building-Level Strategies

Regie Routman, in her book Literacy At the Crossroads (1996), shares the stories of several school districts; their challenges and successes as they worked to involve their publics in real, meaningful ways.

• Include families in the change early in the process, not as an after-thought. Ms. Routman shares an interview she conducted with the former Superintendent of the Littleton, Colorado school district.

  The former superintendent, Ms. Chavez, shares her number one recommendation, "Seek first to understand.' Carve out meaningful dialogue, and what that means is not telling first, but rather, asking a lot of thoughtful questions and listening. Probe, probe, probe. But do it gently, as a caring spouse or friend would. Figure out what the parent concerns are. Ask effective questions that build trust. Arm yourself with facts. Have information that can help influence peoples' judgment. Listen with an open mind. Don't give the answers to your questions, even if you know them. If we do this for parents--offer options and get their feedback--with the majority of parents, we'll have greater support." For more information on parent involvement go to Parent Involvement: Literature Review and Database of Promising Practices

• Speak in language families understand. Fairfax County, Virginia implemented successful change with community support. They recommend speaking without jargon when sharing with families. When they began restructuring how they taught the language arts, they did not refer to the change as 'whole language.' They continued to use 'language arts' terminology familiar to families. When there was a language change, they explained it to families. They described 'invented spelling' as 'temporary spelling' and explained the developmental aspects to parents. The Family-Friendly Teacher Talk page provides some examples of language that is easier for families to understand.

   

• Write materials specifically for parents and teachers. Fairfax identified frequent parent questions and concerns. Their teachers developed short, concise, jargon-free explanations of current approaches to address these questions. These materials were used as hand-outs when questions arose and as support materials at presentation sessions for parents.

• Develop district assessment tools. Fairfax developed its own standards and benchmarks. These were shared with families so that there was a clear understanding of what their children were expected to learn. They then developed their own assessments to evaluate their instructional program. While standardized achievement tests are one measure of the health of a school district, they are a limited one. Fairfax opened the door to multiple measures for success and educated the public about those measures.

• Make programs and practices explicit to parents. Routman say, "An article in Education Week suggests that parents support innovative practice when they understand how the practice is being implemented." The author of the article suggested that conducting focus groups for parents is a good idea. A focus group could select a topic dealing with curricular change, child development, learning theory, brain research, etc. and study it. Discussing what is being learned and its implication for district programs helps parents to understand the change. Teachers could bring sample lessons to a focus group and share materials and strategies and how they contribute to learning. Through this process, we are able to present information that can help to influence people's judgment. As Cile Chavez said, "We have to help people move from opinion to considered judgment."

• Open parent library/lounges in buildings. Find a cozy space in your building where parents can come to read about your school and its events, pick up articles about education and practice, borrow parenting books, and meet other parents. Even if it has to consist of a soft chair and sidetable in the corridor, it signal your interest in making families feel welcome. Put up a bulletin board in the area and display pictures of children in classrooms going about their daily routines. Highlight a classroom a month. Videotape a typical day. Be sure that as many children as possible are included in the production. Place the video and a vcr in the parent area.

Teacher/Classroom Strategies

The above strategies are ones that require a building or district focus. They are very important, but no more important than what teachers do in their classrooms to help parents understand how children are learning. What can we do in our classrooms to share this information with families?

• Welcome families into classrooms and buildings. While some teachers have always had parents in their classroom, many more are very uncomfortable with the idea. Having parents in the room may be one strategy for making practices explicit. When parents see how we're teaching reading and math and they see children learning, new strategies seem less threatening. Having them there also provides us with an opportunity to explain what they are seeing.

  Bring parents in as helpers rather than observers, though observation is a legitimate role too. Many districts hold orientation sessions for parent volunteers. It is very important that they understand what their role is while they're in the classroom and that confidentiality is observed.

• Share research, fact sheets and articles about issues with parents. The popular press frequently runs articles about educational issues particularly at the beginning of the school year. Keep a collection of these articles and ask permission to reproduce them to share with families. Over the last couple of years whole language, brain research and child development have all appeared in such popular magazines as Time, Newsweek and Good Housekeeping. When questions arise, these articles may be used to support your practice.

• Document the work of the classroom through displays of children's work and photographs of the process. The Reggio Emilia schools of Italy have perfected this form of family communication. Every project undertaken with children is photographed in its various stages and displayed along with samples of evolving and final products of children. These beautifully displayed panels are placed in public places around the school where families may view them. They reflect and encourage a pride in the learning that has taken place and provide a medium for dialogue about practice. Further involve parents by asking the PTA organization to provide the money to purchase film and processing necessary to do this kind of documentation. For a more thorough description of documentation, go to The Contribution of Documentation to the Quality of Early Childhood Education.

• Send home a newsletter regularly that highlights the learning that is going on in the classroom. Let parents know what concepts and skills you are working on in your classroom. Describe some of the activities that children are participating in as they learn. Newsletters are a good place to explain, for instance, how play dough is a good pre-writing activity or why block play builds math skills. (A newly released NAEYC publication, Family-Friendly Communication for Early Childhood Programs, provides reproducible descriptions and explanations of practice that speak to parents in the form of letters, newsletters, bulletin board ideas, and parent hand-outs.

• Include children in parent/teacher conferences. Student-led conferences are becoming more and more common in districts around the country. They typically include a dialogue that focuses on the student and his/her portfolio of work. This format gives parents opportunities to hear what and how their children are learning from the perspective of the child as well as the teacher. For more information on student-led conferences go to Students Lead Teacher-Parent Conferences.

(You might like to know that Mrs. B. used several of these strategies and the next year had a very supportive relationship with her families.)

These are just a few suggestions for building a true community of learners where all stakeholders are respected and have a role.

I think Regie Routman said it very well when she wrote in Literacy At the Crossroads, "If we want to influence the course of public education, and we must, then we as educators must clarify issues for a wider public audience--the media, parents, school boards, local and federal government. Democracy gives us the freedom and opportunity to speak out and be heard. We must seize that right. Otherwise, much of what we know and believe about teaching and learning may be lost, simply because we didn't make the effort to raise our voices."

Diffily, Deborah and Morrison, Kathy. Ed. Family-Friendly Communication for Early Childhood Programs. National Association for the Education of Young Children. 1996.

Dodge, Diane Trister, The Creative Curriculum For Early Childhood. Teaching Strategies. 1989.

Routman, Regie, Literacy At the Crossroads, Heineman. 1996.

You might also wish to visit the Family-Friendly Teacher Talk pages where teachers and administrators share words and strategies for describing practice with families.

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