replyy

At least 5-6 sentences each posts

Monrcian post – If I were trying to build trust with families, I would start by simply leading with strength and clarity. I share a quick “here’s what your child does well” snapshot and a plain-language IEP-at-a-glance. I discuss what we’re working on, what it looks like in class, and take a few minutes to help the family with things they can do at home. Then I follow up with a short text or call and ask, “What are some goals that would matter the most to you?” The other thing that works is keeping promises small and visible. If I say, “I’ll text you a photo of the visual we’re using by Friday,” I send it. Making sure to build that trust. Your word matters to the family. That kind of follow-through turns communication into credibility. What hurts trust? Two big ones: drowning families in jargon or data with no story, like this example of “Here’s a graph… good luck” figuring it out, and inviting them to meetings but not involving them in the decisions. If the plan is already locked, the family would be able to tell if the decisions are being made without them. I’d rather co-decide one or two real things—like which at-home routine we’ll try first—so families feel their voice changes the plan.

And if a colleague says, “Our families just don’t want to be involved,” I’d answer: “Maybe it’s not disinteresting, and it might be that our approach isn’t reachable. Let’s try a mini-pilot for three weeks: switch to their preferred channel and time (text or evening calls, interpreter if needed) and offer a tiny, specific role, like giving feedback on a one-page choice board. We can track responses and see what moves the needle.” I’d also loop in a family ambassador or community liaison to co-call invites and host a short listening session with childcare, food, and translated materials, ensuring families focus on the top two priorities. That’s straight out of IRIS: make it accessible, make it genuine, and follow through.

Ashaa post – Every new special needs teacher needs to understand deeply that building strong trust with families and demonstrating respect for their cultural background is where positive home connections begin. To establish trust with families, teachers can employ constructive communication and involve them in the decision-making process. These are some helpful tools that teachers can use. Teachers must understand that the home-school connection is always beneficial, not only when it is needed. To make families feel welcomed and have knowledge, teachers should share information about events and resources, students’ academic success, etc. Teachers can also include the parents in the IEP meetings and make them feel that their input is important.

Some things that can create mistrust between families and teachers include communication barriers that are based on language, and families feel that they are excluded from problem-solving and decision-making. Families may perceive that teachers see them as responsible for their students’ failures when teachers pay attention to what students are not able to do. Also, parents may feel that they are not important if the educators do not include their input when making the curriculum or behavior resolution. The number of points that can create mistrust between families and school might be more than what I demonstrate in this short composition, and I will point these out in my focus on things that negatively impact the connections and interactions between the two.

I think answering with empathy, plus expressing my own positive viewpoint to my teammate, who believes that families are not ready to participate. I may remind them that families might be experiencing difficulties, including language barriers, and a long work timetable that does not align with the school schedule. I will suggest in the conversation to see if we find a solution that can be included by trying a translated short message, or photos/videos for updating, and unrestricted time meetings. I believe that the problem will be fixed by these positive ideas and actions, and make families more welcome.

Clara post – Imagine you are a new special education teacher assigned to a school that has struggled with family engagement. Based on your learning from the IRIS module and readings, what are two teacher practices that help build family trust and two that might harm it?

Two teacher practices that help build family trust are hosting events for families and volunteering. Events can consist of “Meet the Teacher Night, Coffee and Conversations with the Principal, School Tours, Family Fun Night” (The IRIS Center, 2020). That way parents and family members can be invited and involved in their child’s education, building trust with the educators as part of this process. The parents and family members will feel like their presence in the school is valued, and the teacher wants to meet and communicate with them. Hosting events can help build family trust by allowing parents and family members to interact with their child’s school and establish a relationship with the teacher. Another teacher practice that helps build family trust is volunteering. This could be at their child’s school, in the classroom, or on field trips. In School, Family, and Community Partnerships, it states “most agreed that if parents volunteered at school they usually make a greater effort to help their children learn at home’” (Epstein & Sheldon, 2023, p. 79). Being able to see how the teacher does things in the classroom can help parents and family members to understand how they can work with their child at home with their learning. Volunteering can help build family trust because it will allow the parents and the family members to see how the teacher teaches their child and they are able to be involved in their child’s education. As a new special education teacher, I would try to increase family engagement with these two teaching practices. That way, the parents and family members can be in the classroom and see what their children are learning and doing. Two teacher practices that might harm building family trust are learning at home and home visits. Learning at home can involve the teacher coming up with activities the parents can do at home to promote their child’s learning. In School, Family, and Community Partnerships, it states “it may be more difficult for teachers to involve parents of older students in learning activities because the abilities and needs of children in the upper grades are more diversified and the academic content is more complex” (Epstein & Sheldon, 2023, p. 103). Some parents or family members may not have the knowledge or the skills to help their child with the activity the teacher plans for them to do at home. This can then be hard on the parents or family members who are trying to be involved in their children’s learning but can’t understand it. Learning at home can then harm building trust with the family because the parents or family member will not know how to be involved in their child’s education or feel uninterested in interacting with the teacher if the activity is too challenging for them. Another teacher practice that can harm building trust with the family is home visits. Home visits can harm building trust because they could feel like the teacher is coming in to judge how they live. The teacher may be going to gain insight on the child, but parents who are not used to having teachers come to their house can feel judged. As a new special education teacher, learning at home and home visits could harm building family trust because the activities could be too challenging or the visit could come across as me being judgmental rather than curious about the student’s life.

How would you respond to a colleague who says, “Our families just don’t want to be involved”?

I would respond to a colleague by saying that they do want to be involved but might not know how to get involved or might not understand the material we are learning. This can be true when it comes to learning at home activities because they may be too challenging for the parents to do due to them being out of school for a while. It can also be because the students today learn math, reading, science, and social studies in different or new ways than their parents learned them. The teacher needs to give “materials that are easy for all parents to use and enjoy” (Epstein & Sheldon, 2023, p. 105). This way, the parent can work with their child and get involved in activities that are clear and understandable to them. As a new special education teacher, I would want feedback from parents and family members on learning at home activities to see if they are easy and understandable for them to do, and if not, I would fix them, so they are.

Reference:

Epstein, J. L., & Sheldon, S. B. (2023).
School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Routledge.

The IRIS Center. (2020).
Family engagement: Collaborating with families of students with disabilities.