There is a lot to be said about parent involvement in education. Some people consider this to be a big no, whereas others think it should be encouraged. Of course, plenty of arguments have been made on both sides. Yet, it remains the need to ask ourselves - do we need to be engaged in our children’s schools? Well, this is the question we want to take on here.
What Does it Mean for Parents to Get Involved?
The first thing to discuss when considering parent involvement in schools is to see what exactly that means. This doesn’t come to signify that you’d be the one doing the teaching. No, it comes down not to teach but to taking responsibility.
Whereas some parents believe the educational success of their children lies solely in the hand of the teachers, we want to say it loud and clear - it also depends on you. So, parental engagement is being part of a team - you and the school - that aims to provide the best education for your kids.
Importance of Parental Involvement in Education
When parents are involved in their children’s education through various activities at school or outside of it, we get to see numerous benefits. For starters, those children are going to get much better results on tests and overall grades. Through the help of their teachers, kids learn the material and get to understand it. Through the help of the parents, kids put in extra effort and start to see more and bigger results. Parental engagement in schools is going to help teachers better understand the challenges that every student is facing. Then, they are going to be able to help them in a more tailored and case-specific way.
Also, students whose parents are more involved in their education, on average are more likely to graduate from high school and get to college. Studies have come to show us those results from parents' involvement in child education and they frame the importance of parents getting engaged in schools. So, buckle up and be prepared to face the feared college essay writing one day!
But not only that. If you are involved in your children’s education, then they are much more likely to better behave in class. Social skills have also been shown to improve with this better communication and understanding between parents and teachers. Parent-teacher conferences are a great way to go here and help a whole lot in various situations related to behavior and socialization.
Yet, there are other benefits, as well. One major player on the field is motivation. Self-confidence is an even bigger aspect of the whole learning journey. Both of them can be greatly improved if parents are more engaged in their children’s education. Be it through best college paper writing service (offered by professional writers), through partaking in various activities, or simply through sharing extra insight for their children with the teachers to help them suit the learning experience - parental engagement goes a long way in motivating children and bringing up their self-confidence.
As a direct result of that, we get to see that children of parents who are more involved in their education suffer from low self-esteem much less. They are, in general, with better confidence in their abilities and with an improved overall picture of themselves. Not only that, but it’s less likely for them to develop various behavioral issues that can have a deeply negative impact on their future.
Especially important parent engagement is for students who have some differences in the way they learn; if they have a sort of a disorder; if they need individualized care, etc. For instance, children who are in an Individualized Education Program see much greater benefits if their parents are involved in their education.
Sure enough, should the kids have any type of learning disorder or another medical condition, they’d need a more tailored education to see the best results. Teachers only have so much to offer. But the results will be much, much bigger if the family takes responsibility for the education of their child, too, and gets involved in the learning process. They can also provide insights, tips, or other important information to the teachers to help them better guide their kids to success.
Conclusion
In general, parental involvement isn’t something every parent is happy to do. Yes, some parents genuinely wish to partake in their kids' educational journey to help them to the best of their abilities. Others, though, refuse any responsibility and merely look at the teachers as the ones in charge of their children’s education. Too much steering in any of the directions isn’t the optimal way to go. As in everything, balance is key. But we can say for sure that parents' involvement in children’s education is definitely something we must see in schools.
Sure enough, there might be difficulties in ensuring that. Transportation issues, for instance, are one barrier in the roadway. Another problem may arise due to irregular working hours, too long working schedules, etc.
In every case, though, it would be best if parents manage to be more engaged in their kids’ education. This is a means to aid the progression of the kid in school, to aid them in achieving better education, and to give them a higher chance of graduating high school and attending college, even for marginalized social groups.
Teachers and parents should be a team working together to provide the best possible learning experience for every child out there. They can bring to the table their efforts and knowledge to ensure kids will have top-level education. Above we saw how many benefits this method of teamwork can provide. Those are definitely things we want to see our kids accomplish. And we can definitely aid them in achieving this. So, we should absolutely strive for more and better parental engagement in schools and in the learning process in general. Then we’d have a much higher level of educated, happy, motivated, and self-certain students who achieve much more in school and in life.