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Kelly Peters
Dr. Jan Webler
EDU 234
March 29, 2016
Family Engagement
Theory and Research
Family engagement is an important part of any classroom and school. If families are not engaged
students are not learning as much as they could if the families were engaged. Having the
knowledge that mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, or another caretaker is coming in to see your work
or helping you with a project etc., is really important for children. They love to show off how
much they know. Especially since 70% of their waking hours are spent, outside of school,
this time is mostly spent with family when the children are young. The earlier in a childs
educational process parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects. When parents
come in, children can become giddy, overjoyed, hyper, and spastic, or they may become very
shut down and withheld from the group. If a child is being abused at home and views school as
their safe haven, the safety is ruined when the parent comes to the school because now they
have nowhere to go. Also if children have parents who work multiple shifts at a job or they work
all day so they can be home at night with their child, they may not be able to attend school
activities. This can lead to students becoming upset when they see other childrens parents come
in for activities. This hurdle can be overcome by having these students matched with older
students to be their mentors, or if they have older siblings, having the older siblings come in
since the parents cannot.
All parents/caregivers want their students to be successful, and decades of research show that
when parents are involved students have higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates - better
school attendance - increased motivation, better self-esteem lower rates of suspension decreased use of drugs and alcohol - fewer instances of violent behavior. All of these examples
are what happens when parents come in to the school to learn with their child. The community
the child lives in can also affect the student in class. If the student comes from a community
where they have to sleep in a bath tub so they do not get killed at night due to the drive-by
shootings, the child will probably be more timid to learning because of the constant fear they live
in at home. Or if the child lives in a neighborhood where there are gun fights and drug deals
going on right outside the front door, the student could see education as a very minor thing
because they know when they get older they can always just go sell drugs. The same affect can
happen to children who live in very well-off neighborhoods. They can grow up with a very
affluent family life and never actually see their parents. They can become attention starved and
begin to act out. Also they have the possibility of growing up not valuing education because
daddys money can get them out of any problem.
Another factor children can face when looking at the community is their family make-up. Some
students will come from normal households with one mom and one dad. Others may come

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from a one parent family, they may be cared for by their grandparent(s), an older sibling, god
parent, foster parent, etc. They can also come from a family where they have two moms or two
dads, a divorced family, an abusive family, etc. The family combination possibilities are
unfortunately endless. These factors can all affect how the child is viewed in their community.
Some parents may not allow their children to play with the child of a lesbian or gay couple
because they do not agree with the parents sexual orientation. To the children, there is nothing
wrong except for the fact that they can no longer play with one of their friends. Depending on the
neighborhood the child can also be shunned if the parents are drug dealers, the parents are
getting a divorce or if the parents are anything but normal. Parenting is not easy on every level
and as a teacher you have to keep in mind that the parents are (9/10 times) trying their best to
provide for their child. There will be times you want to tell them they are doing everything
wrong, but it may only be wrong in your eyes. In their culture, or beliefs, it could be a totally
normal occurrence. You have to be understanding of the childs family make-up before you can
even invite the families to come into the classroom. You must make sure nothing offensive will
be said, purposefully or accidentally, that all of the familys needs from the school are met, that
parents are people too, and that they may not be able to come in due to work. You have to
understand the family diversity before you can understand the family.
Children learn from observation of their parents. This can be proved by Banduras theory. When
children watch parents exhibit anger, aggression, happiness, or any emotion towards another
person or thing, it shapes how the child views the same objects. So if mom hits dad and dad
throws mom through a wall, the little boy may try to get a little girl to hit him so he can push her
down. As a teacher you have to watch for these signs of aggression or anger towards other
students. You also have to make sure the children understand that school is a safe place and that
no harm is to be caused to self or others.
Another theorist that can help us understand the importance of parent involvement in childrens
lives in Urie Brofenbrenner. He proposed the ecological systems theory which explains how the
childs environment affects their growth and development. The theory has 4 basic parts, the
microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem. The microsystem is the
small, immediate environment the child lives in. It can include any and all immediate
relationships or organizations with which the child interacts which includes immediate
family/caregivers and their school or daycare. These people/places have the biggest influence on
the child because the more encouraging and nurturing these relationships and places are, the
better the child will be able to grow. Also the way a child acts or reacts to the people and places
in the microsystem affects how the child will be treated. If they are bad tempered then they will
be treated poorly and if they are good tempered they will be treated nicely.
The Mesosystem is how the different parts of the microsystem work together. If a caregiver takes
an active role in a childs school it will help to ensure the childs overall growth. But, if the
childs parents are divorced and the new sub-families have different views on parenting, the
conflicting lessons can hinder the childs growth in different ways.
The Exosystem includes other people and places that the child may not interact with much at all,
but it still has a large effect on the child, ex. the neighborhood. This can be evident when the

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childs parent(s) may lose their job and can no longer afford rent or groceries, it has negative
effects on the child. But say a parent(s) was to get a promotion, then the child may have positive
affects because the parents are now better equip to meet the childs physical needs. The last level
is the macrosystem which is the largest and most remote level. This level includes freedoms
provided by the government, cultural values and beliefs, the economy, wars, etc. They can also
have positive or negative effects on the child.
Challenges and Barriers
It is important to build strong, respectful relationships with the families of your students. They
have the biggest impact on the child when it comes to learning, even more of an influence than
the teacher. Parents are a childs first and forever teacher... they often, dont always recognize
the importance of becoming involved or know where to begin, schools arent always
knowledgeable in how to encourage involvement. A common example of a schools attempt at
family engagement is a family night for certain grade levels. This is when teachers, or college
students, come up with activities for students to do with their parents in the gym or auditorium.
The activities can also be recreated at home. This is one way to know the parents have a
collection of activities to do at home with their students. Another great resource to have is a
home-to-school and school-to-home communicator, which can be as simple as a folder. Inside
the folder you can have one side say School, the other side says Home. When the child goes
home at the end of the day they put all of their mail and any note(s) from the teacher in the Home
side. Then anything that needs to come back to school gets put in the School side of the folder.
This is where a parent can put a note for the teacher with concerns that they may not want to
discuss verbally. Having a communication device between school and home can help to cut
down on the stress of the student because when everyone involved in the childs learning is on
the same page, then the teacher has a greater chance of getting the family involved.
A way to get parents/caregivers to come into the school is to send home a letter. Say the class
wants to have the parents/guardians to come in so they can show off their artwork for the
semester. By sending a note home to the family you can ask them what day and time works best
for them. Then once all the letters/forms have been returned you can pick a date and time for the
parents to come in based on the majority response from the parents. If/when you have a student
whose parent/guardian cannot attend during the majority selected time, this is when you can have
a mentor from a higher grade come down, or in my case, use your own parents as fill-ins. This
way the students still feel that they are accomplishing something worth sharing, even if it is not
being shared with their parents at the same time as everyone else is sharing with parents. Helping
students have the nurturing environment needed in the classroom and at home is a great way to
boost the safety and comfort the students feel when they enter the classroom. No matter how
much we try to avoid them, challenges and barriers are always going to arise. Parents can
become angry and hostile, they can get sick, they may be abusing their child, parents may not
care about their childs education, etc. As long as you as a teacher are trying your absolute best to
overcome the obstacles, there is nothing else you can do.
Plan of Action

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When dealing with the families you have to remember to be respectful, polite, patient,
understanding, open, and creative. Sometimes the parents may have a great idea for how to get
other parents to come to school functions but they may not know the best way to approach the
subject. Sometimes they will need your expertise and creativity to get the ball rolling. Other
times you may have parents who are hesitant to come to the school because they may have had a
bad experience previous to the time you are asking them to come in. Or maybe the office staff is
not friendly to some of the parents. Whatever the issues are with the parent(s) not being involved
in the students academic success, you have to always try to find the best solution for both
parties. Having the family be engaged in the childs learning is the most precious gift you can
give to any student. So get up, get ready, and be prepared for all the crazy things family
engagement can throw at you.

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References

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/urie-bronfenbrenner-and-child-development/

Class notes on family engagement from the lesson at Knox Elementary