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PTAs - missing link in Jamaica's education
Published: Sunday | January 23, 2011 1 Comment and 0 Reactions
Greenland
Despite the unquestioned strides that education has made in Jamaica since Independence, successive governments have struggled to address the innumerable challenges that still plague this essential component of our national development. Inadequate budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Education has been a regular feature of both political administrations as in Jamaica, our political leaders have not yet fully understood that an educated populace is the best way to reduce the woes (and corresponding cost) of the other ministries that compete for the scarce resources of this blessed island.
In recent times, education has been fortunate to have as its minister one of the brightest stars on the political landscape, ably assisted by a permanent secretary with proven competence, and kept on their toes by a dynamic Jamaica Teachers' Association and vigilant media houses. The plight of this country's education over the years would have been even worse had it not been for the occasional but indispensable philanthropy from the private sector, and the critical and committed benevolence of the schools' alumni, especially those in the traditional high schools.
The missing link, however, has been the parent-teacher associations, which are yet to make the type of impact needed to enhance the quality of education in a major way. Parent-teacher associations (PTA) are usually formal organisations composed of parents, teachers, and staff of a particular school, which, acting in cooperation with the principal, staff, and students, attempt to support their schools, encourage parent involvement, support teachers, and organise fund-raising events. In the Jamaican scenario, PTAs should seek to forge strategic alliances with not only the school boards and the wider community, but also with special-interest groups such as alumni in order to tackle some of the vexing inadequacies that now exist.
Experts on PTAs such as ezinemark.com, claim that there are five reasons why every school must have a parent-teacher association. These are tracking the children's [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]academic[/COLOR][/COLOR] record; getting teacher feedback; inculcating discipline in the child; organising events; and nurturing the children's interests. In her message for Parent Month in November 2010, the president of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica encouraged parents to get involved in their children's life as research has shown that students with active, involved parents always do well in all areas. International research and experience also support this view. Joyce L. Epstein, PhD, of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University, developed a framework for defining six different types of parent involvement which assists educators in developing school and family partnership programmes. Her framework defines the six types of involvement and lists sample practices or activities to describe the involvement more fully, and describes the challenges inherent in fostering each type of parent involvement as well as the expected results of implementing them for students, parents, and teachers. These are:
1. PARENTING: Help all families establish home environments to support children as students.
2. COMMUNICATING: Design effective forms of school-to-home and home-to-school communication about school programmes and children's progress.
3. VOLUNTEERING: Recruit and organise parent help and support.
4. [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]LEARNING[/COLOR][/COLOR] AT HOME: Provide information and ideas to families about how to help students at home with homework and other [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]curriculum[/COLOR][/COLOR]-related activities, decisions, and planning.
5. DECISION MAKING: Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders, and representatives.
6. COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY: Identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programmes, family practices, and student [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]learning[/COLOR][/COLOR] and development.
PTAs in Jamaica should seriously tailor this framework to our Jamaican situation, and in so doing, take their rightful place in the development of education throughout the island. Maybe in doing so, instead of being the missing link, PTAs can become the cornerstone around which this nation's education can progress. Collin Greenland is president of the Jamaica [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]College[/COLOR][/COLOR] PTA. Email comments to columns@gleanerjm.com and cgreeny.collin@gmail.com.
Published: Sunday | January 23, 2011 1 Comment and 0 Reactions
Greenland
Despite the unquestioned strides that education has made in Jamaica since Independence, successive governments have struggled to address the innumerable challenges that still plague this essential component of our national development. Inadequate budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Education has been a regular feature of both political administrations as in Jamaica, our political leaders have not yet fully understood that an educated populace is the best way to reduce the woes (and corresponding cost) of the other ministries that compete for the scarce resources of this blessed island.
In recent times, education has been fortunate to have as its minister one of the brightest stars on the political landscape, ably assisted by a permanent secretary with proven competence, and kept on their toes by a dynamic Jamaica Teachers' Association and vigilant media houses. The plight of this country's education over the years would have been even worse had it not been for the occasional but indispensable philanthropy from the private sector, and the critical and committed benevolence of the schools' alumni, especially those in the traditional high schools.
The missing link, however, has been the parent-teacher associations, which are yet to make the type of impact needed to enhance the quality of education in a major way. Parent-teacher associations (PTA) are usually formal organisations composed of parents, teachers, and staff of a particular school, which, acting in cooperation with the principal, staff, and students, attempt to support their schools, encourage parent involvement, support teachers, and organise fund-raising events. In the Jamaican scenario, PTAs should seek to forge strategic alliances with not only the school boards and the wider community, but also with special-interest groups such as alumni in order to tackle some of the vexing inadequacies that now exist.
Experts on PTAs such as ezinemark.com, claim that there are five reasons why every school must have a parent-teacher association. These are tracking the children's [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]academic[/COLOR][/COLOR] record; getting teacher feedback; inculcating discipline in the child; organising events; and nurturing the children's interests. In her message for Parent Month in November 2010, the president of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica encouraged parents to get involved in their children's life as research has shown that students with active, involved parents always do well in all areas. International research and experience also support this view. Joyce L. Epstein, PhD, of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University, developed a framework for defining six different types of parent involvement which assists educators in developing school and family partnership programmes. Her framework defines the six types of involvement and lists sample practices or activities to describe the involvement more fully, and describes the challenges inherent in fostering each type of parent involvement as well as the expected results of implementing them for students, parents, and teachers. These are:
1. PARENTING: Help all families establish home environments to support children as students.
2. COMMUNICATING: Design effective forms of school-to-home and home-to-school communication about school programmes and children's progress.
3. VOLUNTEERING: Recruit and organise parent help and support.
4. [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]LEARNING[/COLOR][/COLOR] AT HOME: Provide information and ideas to families about how to help students at home with homework and other [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]curriculum[/COLOR][/COLOR]-related activities, decisions, and planning.
5. DECISION MAKING: Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders, and representatives.
6. COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY: Identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programmes, family practices, and student [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]learning[/COLOR][/COLOR] and development.
PTAs in Jamaica should seriously tailor this framework to our Jamaican situation, and in so doing, take their rightful place in the development of education throughout the island. Maybe in doing so, instead of being the missing link, PTAs can become the cornerstone around which this nation's education can progress. Collin Greenland is president of the Jamaica [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]College[/COLOR][/COLOR] PTA. Email comments to columns@gleanerjm.com and cgreeny.collin@gmail.com.
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