Lauren Daus 1

Entry 2: Involving and Engaging Families

To me, family involvement and engagement is the creation and sustainment of the bridge
between students home lives and their education. Darder (1998) writes about how educators
should refrain from separating the classroom from the real world. As an aspiring sociocultural
and sociohistorical mediator, how will I provide opportunities for my students to disrupt the
dichotomy between their home and school experiences (Diaz & Flores, 2001)? As I reflect on the
lack of my parents involvement and engagement in my secondary school years, I realize that I
must take into consideration the availabilities of parents, family members, and community
members who also play a vital role in my students lives. It is important to engage in the process
of creating a partnership built on mutual respect with families and community (Klassen-
Endrizzi, 2004). In doing so, I feel that students will be able to see more significance and realize
their purpose in education, because of the effort that is made to assure that they are cared for and
loved.
I believe that family involvement is needed in order for problem-posing education to
happen (Freire, 1970). In problem-posing education, people develop their power to perceive
critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves; they
come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in the process, in transformation (p.
83). Engaging in problem-posing education allows for students to see their purpose in the lives of
their teachers, peers, families, and communities. I think it also allows me as a teacher to reflect
and act on my purpose in my students lives. As problem-posing education encompasses the
process of transformation, there is an acknowledgement of humanizing relationships. Upon
creating these relationships, how will I sustain the humanization for this process to occur with
students and their families?
Lauren Daus 2

Society, must, as a measure of self-protection, take upon itself the responsibility of
caring for the child (Oakes & Lipton, 2007, pg. 394). Education is a community effort. In a
traditional schooling system, I feel that a lot of pressure is put on teachers because they are
expected to teach students what they need to know, and are responsible for their learning. I want
to provide opportunities for students to notice the multiple flexible bridges they can build
between their education and communities. In doing this, students can find, analyze, and reflect
on the connections with reading the word and the world (Freire & Macedo, 1987). One thing that
I for sure want my students to do is oral histories on their parents or other significant family or
community members. I want to also encourage my students to invite them to class so they can
share their stories. I think this would be a great way to know what and who has influenced my
students to engage in their process of becoming (Freire, 1970). I would also like to visit
students homes, and emphasize family involvement through school events, parent/guardian
conferences, and back to school nights. I want to keep an open line of communication, whether it
be through email, phone, or in person, to keep them updated with students progress. To get a
better understanding of what family involvement and engagement may look like, I hope to
converse with other educators and also with students, to know how they would like their families
and communities to become involved in their education.
The first teachers of students are their family and community members. To exclude
families and communities from childrens education would negate the profound experiences and
lessons that have been happening throughout students lives. As a social justice educator, I hope
to engage in conversation, story, and dialogue with families, community members, and other
educators to develop interdependent learning and teaching. To truly disrupt the inequities that
Lauren Daus 3

schools reproduce, it is essential to remember that truly transformative teaching must be
coupled with activism and resistance in the larger community (Oakes & Lipton, pg. 409).
Action Plan

Introduction: How will
you introduce yourself
to parents/families?
First day of school
orientation
What information will you share?
For the first day of school, I would really
like to have an orientation with students
and their parents/families. If I have short
periods, the orientation would probably
take the whole time. During this
orientation, I hope to share my
scholar/teacher narrative (my K-12
schooling experience, when I fell in
love with history, and my experience in
higher education), allow time for
dialogue in which everyone can
contribute goals and expectations, and
incorporate community building
activities (Human Bingo, 4 Corners) for
everyone to get to know each other.
I will provide my contact info, tentative
availability times to meet, ways to stay
updated with what is going on in my
class (website, newsletter, student-led
conferences), units I will be teaching,
and major projects/events to look
forward to.
How will you initiate contact with
parents?
I want to mail invitations for the
first day of school orientation to
students homes. Depending on
access to email, I would
probably have students and their
families RSVP by emailing me
how many people can attend and
a brief introduction of what they
would like me to know about
them before meeting in person.
For those who do not have
access to Internet, I will provide
my phone # for them to call me
or leave me a voice message.
If parents/families cannot make
it to the orientation, I will have
my students be responsible for
catching them up on what went
on, and bringing home an intro
newsletter, which will
eventually be sent home and
provided on the website on a
monthly basis.
Lauren Daus 4

What opportunities for
communication and
involvement will you
present to
parents/families?
Email, phone,
meetings, student-
led conferences
Community events,
projects

What questions will
you ask?
What do you expect
from me as your
childs teacher?
How would you like
me to communicate
with you?
What are some
personal goals and
expectations you
have for your child?
How might parents be involved in your
classroom and school?
Possibly twice a semester, I want to have
student-led conferences at school,
students homes, or my home. During
these conferences, students will be
expected to open dialogue about how
they have been doing in my class,
assignments/major projects they would
like to share with their parents/families,
and goals/improvements until their next
conference date.
For major projects (especially for oral
histories), I want to invite parents/
families to come into class and share
their narratives. One successful event I
have seen when teaching at Augustus
Hawkins was an expo where students
showcased their artwork for history and
math, which promotes interdisciplinary
learning and teaching. To engage the
community, attendees were given
feedback forms to fill out for the
students and provide
suggestions/improvements for future
expos.
When I teach YPAR (hopefully I will be
brave enough to do this if I have 100+
students D=), I want to invite families
and community members to the students
presentations. I would expect them to
engage in these presentations by coming
up with questions to ask students about
their research/topic and provide any
feedback they have.
Another project I want to incorporate is a
Transformative Resistance Project in
which students will create a form of art
(poem, song, drawing, video, etc.) to
rearticulate colonialism/oppression. In
How will you go about informing
parents and families of these
opportunities?
Through email, phone calls,
announcements on the website
and newsletter (depending on
what form of communication
works best for them)
Lauren Daus 5

addition, they will be expected to share
their form of art at a community event
with families and community members.
Tentatively, I will call this event
Performing Transformative Resistance

What questions will you have for parents
and families?
How would you like to be involved in
your childs education?
How will you regularly
communicate with
parents? How often
will you reach out?
I think every month,
I will call students
homes and update
parents/families with
their childs
progress. I also hope
to send home
monthly newsletters
and invitations to
any events or major
project
presentations.
What kinds of announcements,
information, requests, etc. might you
communicate with parents about
regularly?
Aside from communicating with parents
if I have any problems with their child
(e.g. multiple absences, disrupting class,
inappropriate behavior), if there is
anything in particular that sticks out to
me about a student (e.g. having
outstanding behavior, being a
helpful/supportive peer), I want to let
his/her parents/families know.
Students will also be expected to help
me communicate with their families by
showing them the monthly newsletters,
class website, and invitations to any
major events/presentations coming up.
How will you keep track of
parent/family responses?
I will have an Excel sheet that
has each students name and
date I will communicate with
families. For every time I
communicate with them, I will
put an O in their grid. For every
time I do not get to
communicate, I will put an X.