At the elementary level I always say that the kid’s behavior is a direct result of parenting. Knowing this, there comes a point when the teacher can no longer use bad parenting as a result of student behavior.
Unfortunately in an urban school system a student’s homelife has more of a negative effect than a positive effect on students behavior in the classroom for more than half of the student population. This is because of parental involvement. It changes drastically from elementary to high school. This contrast of involvement also causes the student’s perception of education to change.
As a result of parental absentees, secondary teachers in an urban school have to be as savvy with classroom management, if not more, as they have to be about the content they teach. Teachers have to find different value systems to invest in to get students to first come to class and also “try”. Because of the success stories that come from the hood’, I’m sure an urban school teacher could be amazing in sales.
Don’t be mistakened, urban schools do have active and concerned parents. Typically those are the parents of students that are in the top percentile of the school ranking and the small number of parents seen during parent teacher conferences. This ratio however is drastically different from that of suburban schools. During parent conferences in more suburban schools I always notice parking lots overcrowded with parents. What this also means is that classroom management is taken care of long before school.
For many new parents and future parents, the fear is trusting the public school system. Ironically the only major change that has taken place over the years has been the family dynamic. The definition of what it means to parent has become more of ” What I can give,” and less of “what they deserve.” Yes, the school system is broken, but like every system, there are parts to them. Aside from the students, the parents have the real power.
Your child can have an amazing educational experience at any school. It is the parents that play the biggest role in ensuring that. There are great teachers and bad teachers at every school. Since not all parents are teachers and know which teachers are best for their kids, there is a way to get into the school and find the best fit for your child.
There’s nothing like old fashion “pop-ins” from time to time to catch your kid doing good 😁. And phone calls and emails are great at keeping teachers in your ear about little Jonnie and the class learning goals. The Parent Teacher Association is amazing as well. PTAs provide a wealth of knowledge about the school, and staff. It is the most underrated tool parents have in their child’s school. Here parents connect with other parents that know the school’s history, know who are the best teachers, and what teachers to avoid. There’s insight on enrichment programs and other resources the school offers pertinent to your child’s success.
There is no dollar amount on love, it is the amount of involvement that affects children. Urban communities have gotten away from the teacher parent pipeline that kept kids in check and pushed excellence from their pupils on every side.
I initially wrote this to talk about the difference in parental involvement in urban vs. suburban schools. But then it turned to an appeal to push parents to come back to their children’s schools and be just as active and concerned as they were at the beginning. That speaks much louder than the new J’s. And it saves all of us from later embarrassment of success stories being stifled by death, low test scores, unqualified gpa(s), or drop outs.
MrDoTheMath 