I had the pleasure last night of attending an excellent workshop sponsored by our District Parent Advisory Council (COPACS) and hosted by BCCPAC advocacy leaders Cathy Bedard and Janet Phillips. About 50 people enjoyed a well hosted evening. With parents, teachers, administrators, community partners, trustees and friends from neighbouring districts in attendance it was good to see more evidence of our vibrant and extensive partnerships in Saanich. We were reminded that true and solution-focused advocacy for children and families is based in strong relationships and clarity around rights, information, voice and inclusion. We also talked about how barriers can so easily come up through lack of common understanding of the issues, the pathways to resolution of concerns and the degree of urgency to the parent. If we misfire on any of those, conflict can so easily arise.
We talked about barriers last night, about what prevents good communication, advocacy and collaborative problem-solving. I am equally interested in what it looks like when it is working. So . . . my question: What does advocacy look like at its best, and what do we in the system have to do to ensure that parents are genuinely invited into problem-resolution conversations and processes when something isn't working?
Friday, September 5, 2008
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12 comments:
Advocay or support, at it's best in the education system, would mean that all learners would have every support,at the right time during development, for optimal growth both physically and mentally. The trick to this is inviting all community members to give input into the planning of all stages of the education system. Imagine if there was the same amount of planning, collaboration and dedication to success of students as say we see go into each Space Shuttle Mission. That would mean every conceivable problem that could arise would already have a contingency plan in place before it ever became a problem. Unfortunately, the success of the education of children is not valued as highly as a Space Shuttle Expedition.
The very basic premise of any type of problem-resolution process it that the problem is taken seriously when it is brought to light. One can never judge the importance of a concern brought forward by another, nor the urgency to which it should be addressed. Every concern is relevant to the person voicing it.
Advocacy in the public school system at its best is, all students reaching their potential and their goals. Meeting each individual students needs to obtain these goals and realizing that everyone learns differently.
Be Pro-active. Parents can be asked from the beginning of their childs education on how the student is learning and what works best for that individual. As the student goes through the school levels, have all three parties, School, student and parent come up with a best solution/best practice for that student. This does not mean having a different lesson for each student, but maybe different tools for each student, so the end result is the same.
We had a teacher ask us to write a million word or less essay at the beginning of the school year to tell this teacher about our child. Not only did this teacher read every story, this teacher listened to the stores and knew about each student in the class at the beginning of the year. So if problems arose, together we would be able to find a solution.
Thanks to both of you for these insightful and provocative comments. I particularly appreciate the ideas of understanding the importance and urgency of concerns (every concern is relevant to the person voicing it) and being in strong relationships as a basis for dealing with concerns as they arise.
Thank you for the opportunity to communicate about issues important to all of us in public education.
Advocacy is at it's best for me when we can respect each other's position and come to an mutually agreed upon course of action that works for the student. I believe it is key that there be a check back process to ensure any directions taken are having the desired effect, and, if not, make adjustments.
Advocacy at its best from my perspective is advocacy where the parent feels comfortable to address concerns with people in higher positions in the school.
Too often there is an 'us versus them' feeling, where the parent feels "us" has to 'defend' the child's needs against "them" who are unwilling to, or unable to, address the concerns or even receive the questions without judgment.
Advocacy at its best is when the parent's concerns or questions are met with active listening, and it is accepted that the parent overcame a huge threshold by approaching the school representative in the first place. Parents do not like to seek help with an authority in an environment that requires daily presence. It makes them and their child more vulnerable.
If something isn't working, the parent would be invited to help identify what the issue may be for that child and what the parents' experience with that is, and not to 'talk about your child'. This acknowledges the parent as being the one who is with the child most intimately. From this position the parent and the school representative are more equal.
Still, the first meeting will be loaded with tension for the parent, and words may be poorly chosen and questions/concerns incompletely addressed or downright forgotten due to nerves. In this first meeting the parent is given the space to address the concerns/questions without receiving a solution or an opposing perspective. The meeting can last all of ten minutes, or half an hour, depending on the concern, and the amount of 'defense' that the parent has brought in with them.
A follow-up meeting, which can take place the next day or next week, will give both parties time to reflect on the issue at hand, to re-examine what the other party has said by observing the child in question with the new information. It may be a useful time to explore or research what was brought to the table by the other party.
During the second meeting, the tension would be less since the parent now knows that the school rep is there to judge or pigeonhole the parent or child. The parent feels heard and acknowledged in their position as the primary caregiver. Perhaps this second meeting can start with the school rep recapping the previous meeting, and asking if anything was anything that was overlooked/forgotten the previous meeting, whether any new information has come to light, or whether there was anything else that needed to be said.
When the common goal has been established by the recap and rephrasing of the question/ concern, and both parties are in an equal position, both parties can start looking at the options that would be desirable and available. If it is necessary to request the input of others, this meeting would be the time to recommend that person or specialization. At the end of the second meeting, choose a time for a third meeting that would take place at a time where the goals for this second meeting can be re-assessed. The re-assessment would take place within reasonable time, perhaps four to six weeks so that the resolution can have time to be implemented and there is a meeting point within reach.
BCCPAC is an incredible organization with passionate representation. Obviously Saanich is interested in dialogue. What a refreshing and positive opportunity. Kudos to Dr. Elder, BCCPAC and the community for sharing and working together to improve your children's situation.
Bravo! I HOPE YOU INSPIRE OTHERS.
One theme that is emerging is the need for us to pay close attention to relationships before and after an issue or concern arises. We need to find ways to develop strong bonds early (phone calls, info packages from teachers, discussions in person) in order to address concerns from a base of mutual respect AND ensure that follow-up communication is thorough and timely. Great advice for all of us to remember, particularly those of us who are "in the system" and who may at times have the tyranny of the urgent take precedent over the need to stay constantly connected.
A small correction that has a BIG effect on the actual sentence that I intended:
I wrote:
the tension would be less since the parent now knows that the school rep is there to judge or pigeonhole the parent or child
and that should be
the tension would be less since the parent now knows that the school rep is NOT there to judge or pigeonhole the parent or child
And thank you Dr. Elder for your eloquent and relevant recap.
Thanks for the correction. Funny, when I read the sentence the first time my brain inserted the word "not" so it made sense. We all appreciate the clarification, though, as we do the clarity of your contributions to this dialogue. Further to those comments, I want to let readers know how much off-line conversation is being generated by this blog. I am hearing some great stories about early connections that really work, and how confident people are that from those connections will come ongoing dialogue into which concerns can be inserted as necessary. That is so much better than waiting until problems arise before making the connection.
One of many examples is where during the first week a teacher in our district sent home a booklet of information about the class and what a day in the life looks like for the class, as well as requests for special insights and direct communication from parents. This, in my experience, is typical of what our teachers, support staff and administrators do routinely. That said, we still have a ways to go before ongoing positive two-way communication is pervasive.
Reading Dr. Elder's posting made me think of a recent situation where I felt connected to my child's school. My child's grade 3teachers sent home an elaborate information package that went beyond anything I had ever received. One unique aspect of this package was that I was asked to fill out a three page questionnaire about my child's learning style. It shows the commitment the teachers have to the students and parents. For the parents, it's like a welcome into their child's learning.
Anonymous, that sounds like a wonderful way to jump-start the connection between parent and teacher. Wow! That teacher would impress me deeply just by doing that!
I truly admire that Dr. Elder gets "IT".
cheers
Dana
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