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‘Parent Tribal Memory’ Category

  1. PARENTS — NOT TO DESPAIR

    January 2, 2014 by Tunya

    Be open to triggers. A negative reaction to something can trigger positive PUSHBACK.

    This is what happened to me.  A friend advised not to resist changes being imposed in public education.  Even if I had good reasons to be skeptical— just vote properly in the next election.

    Mulling it over caused a serious reaction — a need to respect my instincts — and not at some future time fantasize that my vote counts.  Quickly, these options jumped out.

    1          EXIT – It’s still a free country.  Parents can home educate their kids.  Or, if they can afford, find a private school that still believes in the basics.

    2          PETITION — Start or join a petition to get government attention. A petition for math reform, for example, has already gained some grip in 2 of 4 Western Canadian provinces http://wisemath.org/important-updates/

    3          EXPOSE VESTED INTERESTS — Sometimes there are questionable supporters that cast doubt on a proposal or program.  Maybe there are profit motives or some sociopolitical agenda at play.  When told that our BC education “transformation” had to go ahead because it was “international” we started to connect the dots.  Still at it.

    4          BREAK-AWAY PROFESSIONALS — More resistance and voice from practicing experts and authorities are helpful to further demonstrate harm and waste.   Thankfully, a few can be found who are brave enough to start “rocking the boat”!

    5          MEDIA NEEDS MORE INFORMATION — Unfortunately, too much of media is just a job to be done, some space to be filled, some “human interest” to be milked for more audience.  But, we can find some reporters who care about substance and who need basic information to develop good pieces.

    6          LEGAL ACTION SHOULD BE PREPARED — Not sure of the categories, but here are a few key words:  malpractice, fraud, breach of statutory duty, anti-trust, sedition, corruption, negligence, failure to accommodate . . .

    7          HELPLESS, HOPELESS, HAPLESS NO MORE — Any individual can be a global citizen through the wise harnessing of social media — blogging, twitter, Facebook, YouTube, group emails, etc.  Both for gathering and disseminating information, the possibilities are limitless and virtually free in the cause you wish to nourish, small time or big time. 

     

    Category Education Reform, Obstacles, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

  2. Tribal Memory Needed For Parents

    January 1, 2014 by Tunya

    A parent has a problem about her kid in school.  How far can she get before she faces an institutional wall?

    First, there were the hurdles to overcome, the following of a chain of command.  Long, feeling browbeaten, problem not solved.

    – The teacher, while one person, will soon draw upon the resources of her union to protect and defend her if she feels it's warranted.  The union has an institutional memory going back to the Russian Revolution.  It has secretaries, research specialists, lawyers and tons of files all there to help their member.

    – The principal, equally has the support of his association.

    – The school board is another maze of personnel and procedures.

    – AND ON IT GOES.

    Everyone seems to have their support group behind them.  A parent is alone.  Even if there is a parent group in the school they are forbidden from touching personnel or personal issues.  A larger group such as a provincial or state association usually can only help in a procedural way.

    The parent's journey starts in K or Grade 1, with great eagerness and trust. Then things slow down.  Then the parent can't wait to graduate out with her child.  

    While we know that it is really, ultimately and primarily, the parent's responsiblity to educate or see their child educated, "the system" created to help is overwhelming and not always helpful.

    This website will try in the coming months to provide, from the resources available, to be a clearinghouse of information to build some memory for parents — a continuity from what parents have learned in the past.  We don't need to reinvent the wheel all the time!

     

    I — PARENT REPORT CARDS

    Doesn't matter how busy parents are, they are used to receiving regular report cards from their school so they can keep on top of how their child is doing. They can depend on that.   Or can they? 

    Go to this story from two years back to see how report cards can actually be withheld during a teacher strike. For a whole year.

    Even if we claim that is illegal, it was done.    [Now we have a new situation of changing reporting, illegally and outside the School Act.  But, that’s another story, another post soon.]

    http://genuine-education-reform-today.org/2011/08/08/withholding-student-reports-is-illegal/

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Category Education Reform, Obstacles, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

  3. Teacher-Parents are hugely advantaged – unfair

    August 19, 2013 by Tunya

    Snarky Educators Who Oppose Parent Rights

    Ironic, isn’t it — that those who belittle parent choice are members of a class that benefits disproportionately from what the public education system offers.

    The special class of people, which benefits most from the offerings of the free public education system, is the insiders in the system — the teachers who are parents with kids in the system.

    Let me jot down some of the unfair advantages and privileges enjoyed by teacher/parents, who as insiders, extract what they need for their children.  Let’s be very mindful that in reality the public school system is a rationed service, with scarce resources, which simply cannot accommodate all the requests made by parents in general.  Here is how teacher/parents work the system — leaving your average parent in the dust!

    1   Teacher/parents know the language, the words, to use.

    2   T/Ps know how to navigate the system:  who to see, what to say, what to ask for.

    3   T/Ps know how to interpret assessments, scores and evaluations and know where their child really stands in grade level and expectations.

    4   If the student is behind in reading, for example, the T/P can make up the deficiency at home or hire a tutor for precisely what is needed.

    5   T/Ps are at an income level where buying extra tutoring is no problem.

    6   If the T/P’s child might be special needs a psychosocial assessment is readily arranged —  contrast with the often two-year waiting period for other parents.

    7   Once such an assessment is made, an IEP (Individual Education Program) is negotiated between school and parent, and here again the T/P is advantaged because of knowledge of the maximum that can be available.

    8   Once the IEP is in place, extra funding and resources are made available.

    9   If a T/P sees there is a poor fit between their child and a teacher it is relatively easy to switch teachers as again, the “insider” language is a bonus — knowing how to explain why the child would be better off in an “unthreatening” way that does not reflect on the other teacher.

    10   T/Ps feel keenly the urgency of child growth and development — he’s a child only once coming this way — and press their case with adeptness and urgency which in other parents would be seen as “pushy” or “helicopter parenting”.

    11   T/Ps are knowledgeable about the legalities of malpractice and can use this as background allusion to further press their case if needed.

    12   T/Ps are conscious of the safeguards that should be in place in cases of bullying, adoption of new untested programs or psychological invasions of privacy and know how to insist on safeguards or know how to exit from questionable practices.

    13   T/Ps know full well what is a healthy and productive learning experience and if all efforts fail know how to ride out a crisis and provide make-up solutions or antidotes at home. 

    14   T/Ps know that they are the client in a school situation when their child is at issue and know the routes, angles and procedures to follow if they meet with resistance instead of responsiveness and are not easily discouraged from pursuing their rights and entitlements.

    15   Frankly, T/Ps fully know parent rights in education and just don’t want them written down for other parents to know.

    So, Parent Trigger is one of the best things that’s happened to government public education in the last 150 years.  One just has to read the book — Parents and Schools: the 150 year struggle for control in American education by William Cutler — to know that any new gains in responsiveness to parents is significant in this field where producer capture rules the roost.

    Parent rights should be there — up front and center for all parents — not just those who have an inside track.  See Parents Rights & Their Children's Education http://www.parentsteachingparents.net/2014/07/parent-rights-their-childrens-education/

     

    Category Education Reform, Parent Tribal Memory, Teacher Unions | Tags: | No Comments

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