3. ―On the whole, non-Native educators were
either uncertain or thought that
parents...lack interest in their children’s
education and failed to engender in them an
appreciation of its value. In very few cases
were the judgments based on direct
conversation between educators‖ (MacKay
and Myles, 1995, pg. 166)
3
4. We
have come to believe that Aboriginal
parents simply do not care about their
children, have we not?
We have probably all heard comments such
as,
―They never show up.‖ ―They are so
unreliable.‖ ―Those people just don’t care.‖
Am I right?
What are your thoughts? Are parents
involved in their children's’ education?
4
5. I
argue otherwise. In fact, I got so far as to
say that most Aboriginal parents care about
their children, and like any other parents in
Canada, they want their children to graduate
from high school and become self-sufficient
adults.
Many Native parents are involved in the
education of their children. They may not be
physically present in the school, but they are
actively involved.
5
6. Parental involvement may easily mean quite
different things to people.
It can mean advocacy: parents sitting on councils
and committees, participating in the decisions
and operations of schools.
It can mean parents serving as classroom aides,
accompanying a class on an outing, or assisting
teachers in a variety of other ways, either as
volunteers or for wages.
It can also conjure up images of teachers sending
home notes to parents, or of parents working on
bake sales and other projects that bring some
much needed support.
6
7. ―One
indicator that educators use to judge
parental interest is the extent to which
parents participate in parent/teacher nights
organized by the school. By and large, it is
reported that Native parents do not attend
these meetings‖. (MacKay and Myles, 1995,
pg. 109)
7
8. ―My
mom, though she wasn’t educated—she
only had a Grade 8 education— . . . saw the
importance of education. . . . I used to just
love to read. I used to just pick up and read
a novel, and I would pick real interesting and
exciting ones, and I would read. I would say,
―Oh, this is a good story,‖ and then my Mom
would say [in Cree], ―Well, tell me about it.‖
And you know what? I would have to tell the
story in Cree to her. I didn’t speak English
because we just spoke to her in Cree all the
time. . . .‖ (Veronica)
8
9. ―I
help them with their homework, and if
there are issues, I phone the school. . . . I
am more aware. . . . Kids need structure,
and I grew up with structure, so my kids have
that too. It’s homework time, and that’s
when they do homework; and when it is
bedtime, they go to bed‖. (Marleen)
9
10. ―I
do a lot of volunteer work with the school
because I am on the Parent Advisory
Committee... They are always into sports
too, so I help out with the school program. I
do volunteer work like work bingos and stuff
like that‖. (Louise)
10
11. ―I
think involvement can be described in
different ways, and there might even be a
spectrum of involvement from a person who
hasn’t even opened a report card, to a
person who is there practically every day
checking up on their kids. So there are
different ranges and kinds of involvement‖.
(Florence)
11
12. Kavanagh
(2002) says this,
―While almost all parents want to contribute
to their children’s positive experiences in
school, levels of satisfaction with parental
involvement are not yet perceived as
adequate‖ (p. 12).
12
13. Inger
(1992) says,
―Many school administrators and teachers
misread the reserve, the non-confrontational
manners and the non-involvement of . . .
parents to mean that they are uncaring
about their children’s education—and this
misperception has led to a cycle of mutual
mistrust and suspicion between . . . parents
and school personnel‖. (pg. 1)
13
14. How
do we get parents to participate in
school?
Parents report that the answer is quite easy,
―Develop relationships with them. Get to know
them. Get to know their children – the children
you teach. Make them feel welcome. Reach
out...‖
14
15. If administrators and educators are going to
realize their goal of more Aboriginal parental
involvement in schools, then they might need to
consider that their perspectives and definitions
of parental involvement are not necessarily the
same as those of Aboriginal parents.
It must also be recognized that difference does
not necessarily mean that one perspective is
right and the other is wrong.
Rather than pinpointing all the things that
Aboriginal parents are doing wrong, time might
be better spent on building relationships and
discussing all the things that everyone is doing
well.
15
