One big questions I’ve been asking myself this year is: how can I empower my students parents?
A couple years ago I heard the phrase, “parents are doing the best with the tools they have” and I remember having complex feelings about that statement. My rational side went straight to “well they need to get their priorities in check” and then my emotional side went to “they are just trying to survive.”
I’m going to admit it– family engagement and collaboration is an area where I have fallen short in my career. I could easily list my reasons and my excuses, most of which I think most educators would agree with. Except, I want to be the change in my students life… and sometimes that means changing my practices and the way, traditionally, educators do things.
Especially because… well… what happens if I’m not their students casemanger anymore? What happen’s when they go to middle school? If they move? All the what if’s grounded me. If I truly want the IEP team to be a team, then I need to meet my parents where they are, and go from there.
The unfortunate reality for a lot of the families in our country is they didn’t have a positive public education experience themselves, let alone positive special education experience, if one at all. I know this isn’t true for all families, but for the families it is true for, it’s time we change their experience for THEM and their children.
If we believe in each and every child, then the heart of our work believes in each and every parent… and just like we can’t expect kids to do what they haven’t been taught to do, we can’t expect that from parents either.
I don’t think it is a teacher’s responsibility to educate parents like we educate our students, especially as the complexity and responsibilities increase for us each year… but I do think it’s our responsibility to capitalize on the collaboration moments we have. The question of “what happens when I am no longer my students casemanager?” was eating away at me for a while. That was when I realized I needed to change something. I needed to figure out a way to teach my parents, who might not know the system or have negative experiences in the system, so they feel empowered and know their rights, so they can advocate for their children if I can’t.
This is where my idea came in: a parent empowerment folder.
The goal: build trust, communication, transparency, and share support resources with parents.
I’ve been giving these folders out during every initial IEP meeting I have this year. I’ve gotten a lot of very positive feedback. It also serves as a place to store their paperwork and procedure safe guards.
If you’re interested in doing something similar, click here for a free download of the template I’ve made. It’s funny editable, so feel free to make it your own! I’m hoping to have it translated in Spanish soon 🙂
with kindness | ashley
