Gnchapter3 Families

Collaborating with Parents in a Diverse Society CH 3
1. The Impact on Families of Children with Disabilities

Families are a huge influence on children with disabilities. As their first teacher, they can create a
lasting impact on the child prior to their involvment in public school, and this early
intervention sets the child up for long-term success. Parents can also advocate for their
child both in the schools and in government, participating in organizations that advocate
for all children with a disability, or disabilities in general.
Parent involvement is invaluable for the childs well-being, since parents spend most the childs
free time with them, and can more intimately know the childs strengths and needs.
Parents can also work with the school for continuous scaffolding to keep the childs needs
met both in and out of the school.
in short, the parents have a multifaceted job with their child, being all of the following:
Caregiver
Provider
Teacher
Counselor
Parent of siblings without disabilities
Marriage partner
Information specialist
and an advocate for their child
2. Developing and Maintaining Family-Professional Partnerships
continuous two-way communication between parents and educators is vital for the wellbeing and development of a child. Parents know their children on a personal level, and
are the primary advocates of their children. Teachers need to be open and honest with
parents and work WITH them for the sake of their child. To keep effective
communication, educators must:
Accept parents statements

Listen actively
Question effectively
Encourage
Stay focused on the childs needs
Communication breaks down when Parents and teachers create assumptions of one
another, and there is general animosity between the two parties. Here are some ways one
can create such issues:
Treat parents like vulnurable clients instead of equal partners
keep professional distance
treat parents as if they need councelling for having a child with a
disability
blaming parents for the childs disability

disrespecting parents as less intelligent
treating the parents as adversaries or roadblocks
labelling parents based on their reactions (reistant, denying,
anxious)
How to help:
dialoguing (seeing one anothers point of view) is an effective way
to open a healthy communication between parents and teachers. Seeing one
anothers viewpoint helps to make the parents feel like an equal, and that the
whole process is sincerely in their childs best interest. Reflecting, explaning,
reasoning, understanding, and negotiating with the parents makes them feel like
theyre actively involved with the process (because they actually are) and helps to
allieviate what could easily be a horrible and stressful experience.
Working to understand and respect cultural differences also goes a
long way when it comes to interacting with parents. feeling like their culture is
understood and respected helps to make the school seem like an active, caring
institution rather than an adversarial one.
3. Differentiate Passive and Active Listening - Emphasize Active Listening
Passive listening is when one listens, but doesnt hear or necessarily respect or take
into account the point of view. This often comes of as incredible condecending and
frustrating for the parents, because it is.
Active listening (see dialoguing) is working WITH the parent, sincerely taking
into account their suggestions and fears and opening a dialogue based in respect and
understanding. Active listening involves the parent every step of the way, and keeping
them as a member of the childs support team.
4. Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families
Being culturally recipricole is key towards working with these families. Working
with people who have starkly different belief systems can be difficult, but educators need
to understand how the differing values and belief systems may influence the familys
thinking if they are to sincerely work with them.
5. Detail why home-School Communication Methods work and what effective
practices are
Effective pracies are:
Parent-teacher conferences (face-to-face)
Written communication (conferences without the face-to-face portion)
Writing shouldnt be the sole means of communication, but there
are many different ways to comminicate with the parent in writing:
special accomplishment letters
two-way home-school reporting forms
dialogue notebooks
home-school contracts
class newsletters and websites
e-mail and text messaging
Telephone communications
regular phone calls
voice mail
6. Reflect on Benefits of the Parent Appreciation Letter (pp. 114-115)
Parent appreication letters let the parents know that you appreciate and recognize the efforts a
parent puts into their child! Often times a parent feels like their childs lack of progress is a
reflection of the effort theyre putting into their child, which is generally not the case. Being a
parent is rough and taxing, and making an effort as the childs educator to give them a small
token of appreciation will go a long way.
7. Provide one book (APA citation) helpful to teachers for increasing collaboration with parents
to benefit students.
McConaughy, S. H. (2008). Collaborating with parents for early school success: The
achieving-behaving-caring program. New York: Guilford Press.
8. Provide one book (APA citation) helpful to teachers for working with a diverse student
population.
Cole, R. W. (2008). Educating everybody's children: Diverse teaching strategies for
diverse learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
9. Find, read, and bring to class prepared to discuss - a peer-reviewed article on the topic of
working collaboratively with parents/guardians/families. Attach the article.
CIANCA, M., & WISCHNOWSKI, M. (2012). COLLABORATING WITH PARENTS OF STUDENTS WITH
DISABILITIES. Educational Horizons, (1). 26.
10. Provide the article citation in APA format and a brief 2-3sentence summary.
Both parents and teachers enjoyed actively collaborating when teaching their child. Parents
enjoyed the seeing the research and effort the teacher put into their child, and teachers felt like
parents were a valued resource in the teaching environment. Despite ther amount of effort the
class took to conduct, it was a very positive experience.

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Collaborating with Parents in a Diverse Society CH 3

1. The Impact on Families of Children with Disabilities

Accept parents statements

blaming parents for the childs disability

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