Working in Education through the Language Lens

"Parents bring knowledge about their children, their culture and values, their understanding of the community, and their own interests and accomplishments"...."In a democratic school, it's important to have more than a cadre of skilled parents leaders who represent the diversity of parent interests in the school... all families in the school community should be offered a wide variety of possibilities for participation" (p. 192) YOUR VOICE: Moving our school culture towards a true partnership school, where families and community stakeholders are truly partners in the educational system and process - every voice needs to be heard. For educators this can be an intimidating concept - a removal of power that in essence leaves them feeling powerless. On the contrary - this shared 'power' of having your voice be heard and your voice having equal value - is empowering for all stakeholders. It builds EFFICACY(the power to have an effect). Long gone are the da...

From "Beyond the Bake Sale": Core Belief #1: "All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them" (p. 28) Having spent most of my teaching experience in urban Cincinnati - I struggle with this core belief. I don't disagree that parents have dreams for their children and in most cases want a better life for them - the reality was/is even in suburban Northern Kentucky - the opportunity to break the cycle of generational poverty isn't very attainable. I taught students who had never left the state of Ohio (and lived 5 minutes from the Ohio river to cross into Kentucky). Students who had at least one family member - at some time of their lives in the prison system (sometimes the students themselves). Education, while valued, didn't open many doors - even if a diploma provided higher pay - it didn't provide enough to move away. Leaving your family wasn't valued - so in essence you become stuck. The community school a...

What a wonderful way to spend the summer (no matter where we are) chatting to others in this professional arena. Listening to Vox messages is challenging for a visual learner however I love hearing the voices and accents of fellow participants around the world. The challenge of being an itinerant teacher in my district (next year in three schools): I only have history in one building. I would rate that building as a Come-if-we-call School - moving towards Open-Door school. As our leadership changed three years ago, she is working vigilantly with teams of teachers and parents to move a new vision forward. As the ELL teacher - constantly aware of barriers that our school process presents to our families -the true partnership school seems a bit elusive at this point - but I'm eager to learn through this #PTcamp - how to make real connections and build sustainability with the things that currently work.