3.7 Engage parents / caregivers in the educative process
While I have had little first hand experience of working with parents/carers in a school environment, as a teacher I see a vital role for myself in facilitating the cooperative input of the students themselves, their parents/carers, and other school staff into students’ education. I have observed how strengthening these relationships can instantly and drastically enhance students’ success at school.
During my first practicum I sat in on sessions where parents were invited in to the school to consult with experienced teachers about their child’s subject selections for the next year. While I didn’t have a great deal of time in these sessions I gained some valuable insights into the dynamics of the type of relationship that should be developed between the student, teacher, and parent.
My personal teaching philosophies have been heavily influenced by the Steiner-Waldorf philosophies on education and I believe mainstream schooling has a lot to learn from this approach, especially in terms of parental involvement in a child’s education. Steiner-Waldorf schools generally consider it crucial that parents actively participate in their children’s education; that the education of children cannot be left solely to others (the teachers, coaches, etc.); that parents are the first teachers and most significant adults in children’s lives; and that the actions of parents form the attitudes and outlook toward learning that their children will carry throughout their lives. I will endeavor to include this philosophy in my teaching as much as possible in the future.
During my first practicum I sat in on sessions where parents were invited in to the school to consult with experienced teachers about their child’s subject selections for the next year. While I didn’t have a great deal of time in these sessions I gained some valuable insights into the dynamics of the type of relationship that should be developed between the student, teacher, and parent.
My personal teaching philosophies have been heavily influenced by the Steiner-Waldorf philosophies on education and I believe mainstream schooling has a lot to learn from this approach, especially in terms of parental involvement in a child’s education. Steiner-Waldorf schools generally consider it crucial that parents actively participate in their children’s education; that the education of children cannot be left solely to others (the teachers, coaches, etc.); that parents are the first teachers and most significant adults in children’s lives; and that the actions of parents form the attitudes and outlook toward learning that their children will carry throughout their lives. I will endeavor to include this philosophy in my teaching as much as possible in the future.