PARENTS

Are parents our Enemy …

Or Friend?

The Law says … that teachers and schools need to increase parent participation in the educational decision making process for their child. Nowell & Salem, 2007

… through the IEP process. Fish (2008) surveyed 51 parents involved in IEP’s: 63% agreed the overall IEP process was positive 63% agreed services were realistic 71% agreed they had positive relationships with IEP team members All of which is consistent with the research, according to his literature review

Great … so what.. Ever seen this parent before? What happens when parents are mad?

Conflict often arises from … Design of services Delivery of services Relationship issues Constraints Knowledge Which if not resolved may result in due process or mediation. Mueller, Singer, & Draper, 2008

So how do we get from this …

To this …

So … sometimes parents get upset … how do we fix that?

Maybe Mediation … According to Nowell and Salem (2007), mediation will either increase or decrease parent relationships with the schools (shocker there). A parents “interpersonal relationships” and/or “sense of efficacy” will be effected through mediation.

Mediation... Still … Let’s focus on the negative (much more fun!) findings: Negative impact on Interpersonal relationships: Decrease trust and communication Increased adversarial relationships Negative impact on sense of efficacy: Dashed expectations Decreased optimism for the future Reinforced perception of powerlessness

Findings … Mueller et al, 2008 found three themes to cause parent dissatisfaction with the school: lack of leadership in the school School not keeping up with the law parents excluded from the educational process

Do you see the emphasis? The Parent NEEDS to be a part of the team!

“be honest and straight forward” “be available and address concerns respectfully” “form an alliance with the parent” “include the parent as a member of the team” Mueller et al., 2008, p. 216 A few common sense suggestions supported by the research …

Wait … not done.. more common sense research … Korkmaz, 2007 found: 56% of teachers believe schools should have good communication with families. (n = 148)

One more suggestion … School personnel should be trained in: Team building Conflict resolution Problem solving Effective communication skills Fish, 2007

Ask yourself this … How many teacher preparation classes have you taken that prepares you to …. Team build with a parent? Handle conflict with a parent? Problem solve with a parent? Effectively communicate with a parent? Common sense right? Then why all the research? Why is it in the laws? Just asking.

Perception of Preserivce Teachers Preservice teachers assumed: 1.Parents do not care about the educational process 2.Parents do not understand the educational process 3.Parents who care do what the teacher says Murray et al., 2008

One semester later … Those same preservice teachers collaborated with parents and found: 1.Parents often face personal barriers that prevent them from participating with the school. 2.Parents are knowledgeable about special education and process. 3.Parents want to be partners with the school/teacher to help their child Murray et al., 2008

Change in perception The Preservice teachers perceptions were changed, because they were trained to think differently. Trained to: team build resolve conflict problem solving and effectively communicate Murray et al., 2008

Apply what You have learned Padawan! Case Study Split into four groups Read the letter Discuss and present a solution for one of these categories to de-escalate the parent. (Categories will be assigned) 1.Team Building 2.Conflict Resolution 3.Problem Solving 4.Effective Communication

Apply what You have learned Padawan! Case Study Split into four groups Read the letter Discuss and present a solution for one of these categories to de-escalate the parent. (Categories will be assigned) 1.Team Building 2.Conflict Resolution 3.Problem Solving 4.Effective Communication

Closing Thought … As future educational leaders, what is one thing we could do to train new teachers to bridge the gap between schools and parents?

Finished Done No More Go stretch – Yes that means you in the back! I’m going to stop talking now I’m walking away … Stop looking at me … Bad doggy … I feel creeped out now …. I said stop … Go Away STOP I have no more wisdom to share with you …. BY CROM HELP ME!

References Fish, W. (2008). The IEP meeting: Perceptions of parents of students who receive special education services. Preventing School Failure, 53, Korkmaz, I. (2007). Teachers’ opinions about the responsibilities of parents, schools, and teachers in enhancing student learning. Education, 127, Mueller, T., Singer, G., & Draper, L. (2008). Reducing parental dissatisfaction with special education in two school districts: Implementing conflict prevention and alternative dispute resolution. Educational and Psychological Consultation, 18, Murray, M., Curran, E., & Zellers, D. (2008). Building parent/professional partnerships: An innovative approach for teacher education. The Teacher Educator, 43, Nowell, B., & Salem, D. (2007). The impact of special education mediation on parent- school relationships. Remedial and Special Education, 28(5), Yanok, J. & Derubertis, D. (1989). Comparative study of parental participation in regular and special education programs. Exceptional Children, 56,