Rethinking Parent Involvement Opportunities
Kristen Kracke, Presidential Management Intern, Head Start Bureau
Based on feedback from grantees and input gathered in preparation for the National Parent Involvement Institute in August, it is clear that involving parents in a significant and meaningful way is becoming more difficult. Traditional approaches to parent involvement such as volunteering in the classroom and shared decision-making through Policy Councils are reaching only a small number of parents. As the challenges facing today's families increase, parent involvement is requiring more creative approaches and strategies to provide parents with the opportunities to participate across all components of the program.
The Parent Involvement Institute comes at a critical time when more new families are becoming a part of Head Start. Head Start programs across the country are being challenged to create and sustain environments of partnership and collaboration across all elements of the program which: 1) support parents as primary educators, nurturers, and advocates, 2) assure that every parent has an opportunity for a significant experience that will positively impact their life and the relationship with their family, and 3) assure that the policy making roles of parents is meaningful and maintained.
Programs must work with each individual parent in ways that will build on his/her strengths and interests and help to support the family in the challenges that it faces. This requires leadership and creativity and an approach that recognizes parent involvement as the responsibility of all members of the Head Start team.
In supporting parents' participation, we need to consider how we prepare and plan for parents, how we create new and more opportunities for their participation, and how we forge and facilitate partnerships which will help them develop link ages within their communities.
The following are examples of questions which programs should be asking. In planning for the involvement of new Head Start families and preparing them for Head Start, how can we:In offering opportunities for every parent to participate, how can we:
- Design recruitment and enrollment activities to involve every parent?
- Structure more interesting and informative orientations so that parents are able to participate actively from the moment they enter Head Start?
- Include parents in all screening and assessment functions so that they can be supported and encouraged in their role as primary advocates for their child?
- Reduce barriers which interfere with parent participation such as language, operating hours, transportation, and security and safety in the community?
- Integrate and support the parent involvement philosophy throughout program development and management?
In forming community partnerships to enhance the parent's ability to advocate for their family's interest, and sustain this advocacy after they leave Head Start, how can we:
- Assist parents in building on their parenting strengths and advocating for their families?
- Assist parents in building on their strengths in their own personal development?
- Increase opportunities for parents to make decisions about the Head Start pro gram and about issues that influence the lives of their children and families?
- Inform parents about the Performance Standards, guidance, and the significant role that parents play in the total Head Start program?
As we continue to ask ourselves these questions in preparation for the Parent Involvement Institute, we encourage you to ask these questions about your program as well:
- Assist parents in maximizing their strengths and negotiating systems within their community?
- Assist parents in working with the community to strengthen the community?
What percentage of parents do you have involved in Head Start? How are these parents currently involved? Who is not involved, why, and what can Head Start do to involve them? It is through these questions and the suggestions and strategies for answering them that parent involvement can be made stronger and more meaningful for every Head Start program and family.
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