Who's responsible is the question most frequenlty asked and debated in education. Schools have definitely taken on a much larger role in providing for its students and unfortunately it had hindered far too many families today. Free breakfast and lunch, school based health clinics, transportation, after care...I just want to ask myself when will it stop? Family dynamics have shifted in this country and the schools are forced to cater to those changes.
In our text Fredrick Hess proposes two questions "How should we apportion responsibility between families and public school?" and "What obligations should public schools have to ensure opportunity for all students?" Celeste quoted Robert Hunter: Social Conscience in the Progressive Era 1965, "But the poverty of any family is likely to be serious at the very time when the children most need nurture, when they are most dependent and they are obtaining the only education which they are ever to recieve". I think this quote represents a good number of students going through the public education system today. Over time the government has set rules and regualtions for meal programs, various health screenings, and educatonal programs in order to help children recieving public education.
We cater to children and thier families and some parents expect that. My experience working in the Cleveland public schools has led me to believe we are enabling some of the parents. They have become dependent on the schools to provide the basic necessities for their children and expect teachers and staff to go beyond the call of duty. It is not our "job" to soley provide for your children it is our duty to assure they recieve the best education and utilize resources available to do so. It is everyone's responsibility to help children succeed. However, the expectations of those working in schools should be realistic and supported in an effort to get the job done.
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I think you touched on an important part of the battle for who is responsible. It is so hard to see where the line is drawn for school staff. In our changing world, the school does end up with more responsibilities. I, as many, are naturally inclined to want to help more at school to make up for areas where students are lacking from home. But I think you are right that some parents begin to expect and and we enable them to do so. If we help in these areas, maybe we need to focus more on empowering them to improve their own skills. I like how you give out the information sheets on free clinics. It empowers the parents to find ways to get their child's needs met.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea, Steff. As I was reading Ria's reflection I was thinking, yeah, how DO we stop enabling poor parenting while at the same time addressing some real needs of our students? We can't just ignore the problems and hope the parents figure it out. I think you've hit on something important: we need to address these issue--but we need to bring the parents in, give them the support they need to do their part as well. The schools need to get away from the mentality of just taking over the problems themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is our job as educators to ensure that our students recieve the best education we can give them, but i do believe that that education should be well rounded and involve more than just academics. We need to be sure we are giving students the tools to become productive members of society in the future and enabling them to make the decissions necessary to allow them to have the best possible future. Therefore we as educators need to educate our students on these important issues. We don't need to provide the services (but if an outside agency provides it then isn't that utilizing an available resource)or make the final decision regarding what food they eat, but we need to be sure they have the tools necessary to make a good choice.
ReplyDeleteI liked the angle you came with on this issue. I find myself constantly worrying about my students as if they were my own. I bring extra lunches to school with me everyday. I make sure they get all their paper work done for the nurse, their classes, and college. I guess I never wondered if I am being abused. Now that you bring this up I am beginning to think that I am. Even though you make a great point about parents that expect us to "go beyond the call of duty", I fear that if I do not help my students that my students will be the ones to suffer because the lack of parenting.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it is our job to give students the best education possible, but I also think that teachers in general have huge hearts. We cannot see a child suffering and do nothing about it, no matter how large or small the suffering is. As the above poster states, I also fear that if I do not help them, no one else will, and they will be the ones to suffer. My husband is always telling me that "you can't change the world" and I always say, "Yes I can, one student at a time." I hope that it is true.
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