C H A P T E R 2
DIVERGENT VIEWS ON PARENT AND TEACHER INVOLVEMENT
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Competing Voices
"It is the teacher's responsibility to teach my child the subjects that he needs
to learn in school. It is my responsibility to help him to succeed in life."
(Mother of 5th grade boy)
~
"I think that the teachers are getting an enormous salary to teach. Therefore
the parents should not have to teach their children when they get home from
school. The teaching of lessons should be done thoroughly at school.
(Mother of Kindergarten boy)
~
"BECOME INVOLVED!!!!!! Parents should ask every day: what do you have for
homework tonight? What is due tomorrow? What is due next week? Please
send your children to school ready to learn. That is, clean, fed, well-rested,
emotionally stable. In a word: prepared. . ."
(Secondary school teacher)
Overview
Teens, parents and teachers have very different views about their own as well as oth-
ers' roles and responsibilities in school and at home. In particular, students think they
are doing a lot better on many fronts than their parents or teachers think they are
doing:
·
The majority of students (but not adults) feel that their parents are spending
enough time with them.
·
When they need advice about classes, most students feel that they can go to their
parents, to their teachers and /or to their friends.
·
And, many have taken it on themselves -- as opposed to placing the responsi-
bility on others -- to get a good education.
But, what students think has little in common with what their parents and teachers
think, especially when it comes to their school life.
Who Says Parents Aren't Spending Enough Time with Their Children?
Whether or not parents are spending sufficient time with their children is very much
dependent upon whom you ask. If you ask teens, the majority (67%) will say yes,
their parents are spending "just enough time" with them. But, if you ask their par-
ents, this number drops to 45%; ask teachers and it drops even further, to 10%
(Exhibit 2.1).
Most adults, as well as a sizeable number of students, think that parents do not
spend enough time with their children:
·
87% of teachers are of this mind, as are
·
51% of parents, and
·
24% of students.
Although many students are satisfied with the amount of time they spend with their
parents, it should be noted that the 24% who are not translate into more than 4.6 mil-
lion students nationwide.
