PROFESSIONAL REPORT

Professional Report: Families in Education Miranda Wagner University of Nebraska-Lincoln

PROFESSIONAL REPORT For this professional report I interviewed three individuals who are working with or who have worked with children at the elementary school age in the education system. I have known

Deb Faimon for two years, as she is the mother of a friend of mine. Faimon has been teaching for over 30 years, starting out as an elementary school teacher in a K-12 building and later moving to a high school teacher and K-12 guidance counselor. I have known Susan Lessman for eight years due to her relationship and current engagement with my cousin. She has been an elementary school teacher for two years. Susan Wagner is my mother who is a sign language interpreter in a Title I school district. She has been interpreting at the elementary school level for eight years now.

Family involvement in the education system is as important as learning your ABCs, past elementary school teacher, current high school teacher and K-12 counselor Deb Faimon states (Faimon, Personal Interview 2014). Academic student success can be helped and achieved through parental support. Rather the support comes through involvement and engagement in PTO membership, parent-teacher conferences, continued education at home, homework help and so on. Collaboration between schools and family is a huge event I am going to encounter as a future elementary school teacher. I interviewed three professionals working with or who have worked with the elementary school age and each one agreed that families highly influence childrens behavior, mood and achievement and because of this teachers will have much contact to families and not just the students. It is well established that parents matter greatly for their childrens development and success both in and out of school (Van Voorhis, Maier, Epstein & Lloyd, 2013). Parental involvement and support can have more positive outcomes on a childs cognitive and social development. Students with active family engagement have been found to

PROFESSIONAL REPORT have: increased ability to self-regulate (Mistry et al., 2010); motivation to learn, attention, and persistence with difficult or challenging tasks (Fantuzzo et al., 2004); higher levels of cooperation and positive interactions with peers (Hindman and Morrison, 2012; McWayne et al., 2004); reduced problem behaviors (Fantuzzo et al., 2004; Mistry et al., 2010); reduced hyperactivity (Fantuzzo et al., 2004); improved school readiness skills (Britto et al., 2006) (Van Voorhis, Maier, Epstein & Lloyd, 2013). Due to all the positive effects of family involvement I think it is highly important that I, as a future teacher, have the skills necessary to work with families and not just the individual

student. Particular communication skills are, but not limited to, patience, assertiveness, empathy, acceptance, and unbias. Faimon pointed out there comes a point when youve been teaching so long you forget that not everyone speaks education lingo. Its challenging to remember and remain patience with those families that could have first generation students, different cultural values or a language barrier. While many skills are important, patience will help guide smooth interactions with parents (Faimon, Personal Interview 2014). Along with patience when communicating with families is the skill of acceptance and unbias. Elementary sign language interpreter Susan Wagner believed these are crucial skills to have. Understanding the family dynamic of students can better foster a relationship between families and teachers and explain why a student acts the way they do (Wagner, Personal Interview 2014). Acceptance and unbias of a families culture, language and values can create positive relationships. As a teacher, communication should not involve judgment or lectures on how the teacher knows whats better for the child than the parent. Communication should be used to promote parent involvement and support for students and help a teacher better understand their students. Teachers have learned much that is applicable about the general characteristics of children at particular ages, stages, and

PROFESSIONAL REPORT grade levels, but to be effective with each child, additional information is needed (Gestwicki,

2013). Additional information is then found through family communication. Each family has its own values, aspirations, way of dealing with things and so on. By having families actively involved in communication with their childs teacher, the teacher can better understand the childs behavior and learning style. Parents have knowledge that is vertical versus teachers who have horizontal knowledge. By sharing and combining these two types of knowledge about individuals, parents and teachers have created an environment most suitable to meet a childs academic needs. In order to form this connection, effort needs to come from both teachers and parents. Family involvement in education is not one-side, but a collaborative effort. Schools offer parent-teacher conferences, PTO clubs, family nights, information meetings, and public school board meetings. Teachers themselves can communicate directly with families. Lessman says she is always communicating with my students' families whether it be to praise an achievement or address a concern. I communicate face-to-face, email and by phone whenever necessary. The benefit of working with families is that you create a team -the teacher, the families, and the student- that are all cheering for that student. Everyone is pushing in the same direction for the child (Lessman, Personal Interview 2014). Family involvement in education has been proved as a positive influence in a students academic success. As a future teacher I realize the importance of collaboration between myself and students families, the benefits of working with families and the skills I need to learn that are necessary in fostering constructive relationships with families. Communication with families is something every teacher will face at some point in their career. It is an event I plan on experiencing and preparing for to be able to inhibit the highest level of success in my students.

PROFESSIONAL REPORT Bibliography

Corey, G., Corey, M., Egan, G., Gestwicki, C. (2013) Working With Families in Communities & Schools. University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Cengage Learning.

Epstein, J., Lloyd, C., Maier, M., Van Voorhis, F. (2013, October) The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education f Children Ages 3 to 8. Retrieved from http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/The_Impact_of_Family_Involvement_FR.pdf

Faimon, D. (2014, March 19). Elementary Education Perspective. (M. Wagner, Interviewer)

Lessman, S. (2014, March 19). Elementary Education Perspective. (M. Wagner, Interviewer)

Wagner, S. (2014, March 112). Elementary Education Sign Language Interpreter Perspective. (M. Wagner, Interviewer)