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	Sunday, 19 October 2003

Oh, the Hypocrisy

Trevor Mallard claims to be improving student outcomes by strengthening the engagement of families and whanau. He is doing this by destroying existing school communities en masse countrywide. True speech of the forked tongue!

And the Hypocrisy

Howard Fancy, the Secretary of Education, notes research by Russell Bishop as showing Maori students identify a quality relationship with their teacher as being the most crucial element in their success as learners.

Well?

Do we get these quality relationships at large schools? Deborah Meier doesn't think so. In her article "The Big Benefits of Smallness" she writes "Schools are intimidating places for many parents--parents feel like intruders, strangers, outsiders. And nothing seems more foolish than going to parent night and seeing a slew of adults who don't know your kid, have very little investment in him or her, and whose opinions and advice make one feel less, not more, powerful. When kids reach high school, schools usually give up on parents entirely (except to scold them). But high school students don't need their parents any less, just differently.

When the school is small enough, probably someone there knows your kid well enough, and maybe also likes him or her enough, to create a powerful alliance with you. Smallness doesn't guarantee such an alliance, but it makes it reasonable to put time into creating one.

In small high schools like those in our New York City network, each staff member is responsible for knowing well a group of fewer than 15 students over several years. The schools schedule opportunities for the student, family, and advisor to meet--often. The student's work is at the centre of these meetings, and the meetings end with an understanding and a plan for what comes next. In large urban schools, by contrast, such meetings are often not useful to any of the parties. This could be why some parents don't show up; they're reserving their time for more important things. "

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8:47:35 PM