Attending the session on cultural competence at the AMCHP conference led me to thinking about family involvement. A bottom line for Maui District is that we have shown by due process rates and surveys etc. that we have room for improvement with family involvement. We know that families who feel involved, trusted, respected tend not to file due process hearings AND their children have better outcomes. Are there ways that we can improve, tweak, rethink our family involvement and increase our "familyculture competence"?
I envision adopting some new key strategies such as these described below. Lets consider the new "golden rule" - Do unto others what they want you to do unto them".
Begin having all district staff stop the use of distancing language such as, "the mom" and "the dad" and call all family members by their names and help others (school staff) do the same by providing an example and the reminder. Adding the term "the" along with family labels rather than the parent's name, objectifies a parent. It can make it easier for the staff to disrespect and disregard their input. I believe that it is not always intentional, but that sort of language eases staff into disrespect which is less common when you are using a person's name.
I would like us to reconsider the concept of a "non-compliant" parent. A parent that does not do something regarding what the educators want them to do with their child, is not being non-compliant, they are choosing not to do the action/work/task, etc. It is more family friendly to find out what is the issue that is standing in the way. There could be many reasons and opening the discussion by acknowledging that the parent has chosen differently changes the energy. Note - added 4/3/2010 - see blog post on "recommended reading" for another opinion on the use of the term 'compliance' with regard to families.
If we changed the way that schools work with parents when they are first becoming part of special education would it increase outcomes for students and increase satisfaction for parents? What if schools had a sort of PCNC for special education? Not a new position, but someone who was the "go to" person for the family for early on concerns. Or would some schools want to identify an experienced family who can provide family to family supports for new parents? Many parents will be more comfortable in speaking to another special education parent rather than a school staff member. Is there a way we can facilitate that relationship? I am thinking that there may be a possibility of working with the family component of the CCC to assist parents when they are first becoming part of special education.
We have recently invited parents to attend district trainings so as to build relationships - but what if we took this further. I am considering the idea of having "family as faculty" or a parent panel that would review presentations etc. in advance to provide input and their perspective. Would this too be a possible off shoot for the CCC? I am remembering the slogan, "nothing about us without us" and thinking that we could adopt that attitude and it also may reach the outcomes we are hoping for.
Finally, there are new cultural and linguistic groups on Maui that our district and school staff may not be familiar with - it would benefit all to have presentations to understand the difference between Micronesian groups for example.
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Wow Lesley - great stuff & great plans...Maui is lucky to have you. Families training along side professionals has always been our hallmark for Family Voices. The families who may find some of the technical information will self select out. I've always believed that it should be a choice - a folks, whether they are families or professionals - tend to make the best ones for their situations. The challenge in the beginning is for the facilitator to help navigate both audiences and create an environment than can be safe and replicated and will consequently set the standard for future collaboration.
ReplyDeleteI too have also been bothered by the word "compliant". It about the "beholder" and it's a judgement. Much as we work to eliminate the "r" word - we need to replace the compliant word.
thanks for all this great info!
Leo