What+other+roles+could+parents+have?

What other roles could parents have? ~ Mabyn Grinde, Alberta

Willms and McKenna (1998) suggest that while Canada "might be lauded for its efforts to involve more parents in school decision-making, policymakers have paid less attention to other aspects of parental involvement [and that] this is a significant omission because parents can be involved in many ways, and other types of parental involvement may be more important" (p.379). Willms and McKenna (1998) suggest that school-parent involvement could include "parent support and education, volunteering activities, involvement in school-related learning activities at home, collaboration with the community, and the establishment of better communications and relations among students, parents and school staff" (p.380). I really like the idea of identifying ‘other’ ways of involving parents in our schools. In my experience, many parents are not willing to commit the time to being a formal member of a parent council group. Sometimes, I also find parents uncomfortable, or unsure of their ability to be a part of a formal parent council role. Part of this hesitation I suspect, is due to traditional power dynamics of admin/ teacher/ parent role in the classroom/ school. In my experience, schools with the most active, dedicated parent volunteers are not necessarily those schools with the largest parent council group. Perhaps part of educational management should be a focus on meaningfully involving and informing parents in multiple means, not just through parent councils.

Reference:

McKenna, M. & Willms, J.D. (1998). The challenge facing parent councils in Canada. Childhood Education,74(6), 378 – 383. Retrieved from: []