Parents, Families, and Teachers as Advocates
Notably, an advocate, such as a teacher, counselor, or parent, must be present in the child’s growth and development process for the long term. I have learned that an advocate is someone who understands the child well, communicates with them frequently, sees them every day, wants them to succeed, and can step in if they have problems (Henderson, 2007). As advocates, parents establish educational expectations for their children and closely monitor children’s development, keeping track of participation, assignments, and scores. Furthermore, they assist the learner in setting objectives and planning for the future. Additionally, parents supervise the student’s out-of-school time and ensure that it is focused on beneficial activities. According to Henderson (2007), parents might support additional educational pursuits like athletics, art, theatre, or music classes. I completely agree that the more parents believe they have the ability to constructively impact their children’s future, the better their children do in the classroom.
Being an effective advocate demands a unique set of abilities. Advocates should be both courteous and relentless, and they should understand how the system works. Besides, as advocates, families must understand how the school operates, what services it provides, and to whom they should refer if a kid is experiencing difficulties (Henderson, 2007; Couchernour & Chrisman, 2014). Families should be informed about the curriculum and state requirements. Thus, a tight collaboration between a teacher or other staff member and the student’s family is a fundamental strategy to ensure a child’s academic success.
Significantly, teachers as advocates should ensure high-quality teaching and meaningful interaction with their students. Furthermore, they play a critical role in supporting and promoting equity, ensuring equal accessibility, experience, and development for all individuals. For instance, teachers can identify a group of children who may require further assistance and reach their families to solve the issue. Suppose African American and Latino girls’ science scores are low. In that case, teachers should implement a particular four-week curriculum for family science classes to demonstrate to parents how to boost their children’s academic progress (Henderson, 2007). The information on the importance of equity has changed my opinion because I thought that integrating families into school activities was not that significant compared to teachers’ curriculum implementation and goal achievement. Nonetheless, educators should interact with diverse groups, including families, to improve the teaching and learning processes.
Dr. Pierson’s Communication Techniques
Dr. Pierson emphasizes the value of human interaction since no significant learning can occur without a meaningful connection. A teacher or an adult has had an impact on everyone’s life. The ideal teacher focuses not just on teaching and achieving outcomes for students but also on understanding, relationship-building, and making connections with pupils (TED, 2013). According to Dr. Pierson, students do not learn from teachers they dislike. Simple actions like apologizing when the instructor is wrong might improve the relationship. Interestingly, Dr. Person claims that she had academically deficient classes. She pondered how she could get children from where they are to where they need to be in nine months while also increasing their self-esteem in academic success (TED, 2013). As a result, Dr. Pierson told the children that she was the most exemplary teacher and they were the best students and must work together to achieve success and demonstrate to other classes how to do it.
Consequently, in her TED Talk, she underlined that supporting and believing in your pupils is critical to success. Without a doubt, I will use Dr. Pierson’s communication techniques in my advocacy efforts for children and families by emphasizing the need for solid support, deep connection, and effective communication. To conclude, Dr. Pierson delivered a critical message to educators to believe in their pupils and engage with them on a truthful and personal basis.
References
Couchenour, D. & Chrisman, K. (2014). Families, schools, and communities: Together for young children (5th edition). Cengage Learning.
Henderson, A. T. (2007). Beyond the bake sale: The essential guide to family-school partnerships. New Press.
TED. (2013, May 3). Every kid needs a champion – Rita Pierson [Video]. YouTube. Web.