MOOCS COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO FAMILY ENGAGEMENT IN EDUCATION

MOOCS COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO FAMILY ENGAGEMENT IN EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

Family engagement describes what families do at home and in the community to support their children’s learning and development. It also encompasses the shared partnership and responsibility between home and school. Irrespective of cultural background family involvement matters in education. Such engagement is essential for school improvement. It is also increasingly recognized as an integral element for proficient practice as an educator.

In this education course, one is taught what family engagement is and why it matters to the success of students and schools. By exploring the research, linking family engagement to better educational outcomes the instructor Karen Mapp directly interviewed with researchers, educators, students, and families about promising practices in the field.

LEARNING MATERIALS

The learning materials used were slides, videos, reading materials, websites for references, earphones, other downloadable materials. Learning materials were selected based on the mode of delivery, since it was an online course, the focus to be able to listen clearly and get the needed resources.

RATIONALE FOR SELECTING COURSE

1.    As a head teacher, who is keen on impact of involvement of parents and community in the education of children, I believe this course will enhance my quest.

2.    To gain Awareness  of family engagement and its impact on Parents, educators and the community

3.    To guide preparation of school’s termly curricular and program outline

INSTRUCTOR PROFILE:

Karen L. Mapp, Ed.D, is a Senior Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the Faculty Director of the Education Policy and Management Master’s Program. Over the past twenty years, Karen’s research and practice focus has been on the cultivation of partnerships among families, community members and educators that support student achievement and school improvement. She served as the co-coordinator with Professor Mark Warren of the Community Organizing and School Reform Research Project and as a core faculty member in the Doctorate in Educational Leadership (EDLD) program at HGSE.She is a founding member of the District Leaders Network on Family and Community Engagement, is a trustee of the Hyams Foundation in Boston, MA, and is on  the board of the of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) in Washington,DC.From 2011to 2013,Karen served as a consultant on family engagement to the United States Department of Education in the Office of Innovation and Improvement. She currently serves as a consultant to the Family and Community Engagement (FACE) division of Scholastic, Inc.

INSTITUTION

Harvard University

COURSE DURATION

The course designed to last for six weeks, with 2 to 4 Hours per week. The course begun May 15, 2019 and will end on June 26, 2019.  All things being equal I should complete the course within the stipulated schedule.

SPECIFIC TASK

Researchers who have domain knowledge shared videos of various interviews conducted on the topic, and shared more information enriching the experience.  

We were tasked to read more materials on the topic and given assignments to complete as well review other peer’s work.

PEER REVIEW

The peer review offered me the chance to connect with other course mates from different backgrounds, sharing ideas on the interesting topics, reviewing each other’s work and debating on some debatable issues. This segment is helpful and informing, a good refreshment to the long hours of watching videos.

REFLECTIONS

The course has been a very interesting one and honestly speaking I have learnt a lot. Lectures have been so interesting and easy to retain slides and presentation though time consuming, quiet demanding financially,  due to unstable internet connection ,interviewers and interviewees made interaction so interesting with some diagrams ,home face-to-face interviews, and also relating to practical family life experiences as well as research findings.

We had assignments, reflections and discussions, which was interesting. Steve Sheldon (Associate Professor of John Hopkins School of education) confessed that he is a huge convert on the home visit piece now and underestimated what home visit could accomplished. It is believed that, 4000 plus students in D.C. school leaders  and teachers talk about what home visit experiences were like for them and the parents. I heard Steve Sheldon say that he think home visits are a particularly powerful practice that can really develop some strong relationships between educators.

I was very much touched by one parents comment upon interview, he said “ it is sad to have a child going through something that you can’t fight or ,you want to take any pain from your child to make sure that he doesn’t have to go through this”. And Stanton 

Elementary school took on the role, checking up on us, making sure we are ok, making sure he still has school work, still making sure that he was going to get the best education.Having a home school teacher coming to the hospital, coming to the house. It has been 2 years and Xavier (i.e. their son) has been cancer-free. The school as I said is there for you.

Karen L. Mapp, Ed.D. My instructor did quiet awesome with the interviews and summary lectures. The developmental Psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems was one work the according to researchers proved powerful on the field. He believed that teacher and families are not the only people who shaped children but other systems, he taught about everything as an ecology.

Kristin Ehrgood also touched on Flamboyan’s Development of Family engagement Strategies to enhance on strategies to make home visits and family involvement in education successful.

I did enjoy every section of this course, though not completed the course due to time limit in assignment submission I have learnt so much, which when implemented will help with education and educational leaders Ghana. It was surprising how home visits could improve literacy and school attendance.

The next section, which I just started but had to take a break from, to submit assignment, is the Home Visit, Research Implications and Practices with the Middle & High Schools. Karen while introducing made mention of the fact that people ask why one should Focus on Family engagement important with teenagers. And that Isn’t this that they would start becoming independent from their families? But one few young people told her  upon interview that ,not only is family engagement  important but it is more important now than at any other time in their lives.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF STUDIES:

I can confidently say I have learnt so much especially, on strategies to get attendants and improvement in academic performance.

I learn that, Academic Parent Teacher Team (APTT) is an opportunity for a group of families. So it’s not like the one-on-one style of meeting the parents or meeting all parents together in the class or on the school premises to discuss the children and what they  need to learn that year in order to be successful ,to get high grade level. Rather home visit help because the families have the relationship with the teachers ahead of time and therefore know that teachers really does care about them,as compared to the previous style were most parents become  bit nervous to open up and speak their minds.

 The key theme through and through is the importance of building trust and respectful relationships between home and school.

CHALLENGES:

Although the course was very interesting, the following challenges were encountered.

1.    Poor internet connectivity, hindering the flow of study.

2.    The guidelines provided to review the peer-to-peer work was not enough to conduct a good review.

3.    The Hours allocated for each course online, was lengthy and tiring.

4.    Loosing focus and difficulty in relating the course content to daily situations.  

STRATEGIES ADOPTED:

1.    In order to deal with the inconsistent internet connection, I had improvise with alternative hotspot from different Internet Service Providers.

2.    In order to perform my motherly and wifely duties, while taking the course, I had to strategize get enough time to study.

3.    In situations where, staying late was not helpful, I would have to wake up earlier to undertake the course.

4.    To Access my understanding of the course, I took the liberty of lecturing my husband, and this allowed me to better understand and relate it to daily situations.