Parent-Community Involvement Plan in a Low-Income and Diverse Community

Parent-Community Involvement Plan
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Introduction
Preschool education plays a vital role in reinforcing proper educational development in a child (Froiland, 2021). Early childhood education should be focused on achieving wholesome development. The term wholesome, in this case, refers to physical, emotional, mental, and educational wellbeing. These four facets are important for the maximization of positive learning outcomes in early childhood settings. There are unique challenges that may face in the early childhood education setting. It is important for educators to deal effectively with the challenges to ensure optimal outcomes for the learner (Froiland, 2021). One of the most important aspects of proper preschool education is ensuring that both parents and the community are involved in the learning process.
This paper will focus on developing a parent community involvement plan for a preschool setup. The school that will serve as the case study is Head Start Preschool in Spring Valley, New York. The school is for low-income families. The paper will describe the case study school, the families/ community within the case study school, my plan for developing respectful relationships, community strengths/ resources, and my plan for parent/ community involvement based on Epstein’s Model. In addition, the paper will also identify some barriers to the utilization of the community strengths/ resources as well as some possible remedies to these barriers.
Description of the Case Study School
The case study school is Head Start. The institution is a preschool learning environment for low-income families. The institution is located in Spring Valley, New York. The school plays a great role in providing comprehensive early childhood education to learners. The teachers and support staff do a great job of beating all the odds and providing the best possible education to learners despite the difficult circumstances surrounding the learners and their families. The institution also focuses on providing some health and nutrition services to support learners in having an all-around learning experience. Most of the learners in the institution are aged five and below.
There are several challenges faced by learners and their families. First, there are financial struggles since most of the learners come from low-income families. Evidence reveals that low socioeconomic status often gives rise to numerous other challenges. For instance, low income reduces the ability to access good healthcare, healthy meals, and access other basic commodities (Gross et al., 2020). The second challenge involves language barriers. Most of the learners do not have English as their first language. The language barrier significantly affects the interaction between parents and teachers. Thirdly, low socioeconomic status also predisposes a significant number of learners to be social and emotional issues. The school also has limited resources to support the learners in having an optimal learning experience.
Description of the Families and Communities
As described above, most of the families within the Head Start case study are of low socio-economic status. These families struggle to have enough finances to cater to their needs. Due to the low financial endowment, families and communities, in this case, face several challenges when it comes to children's education. First, most of these families cannot cater to the school fees for their children. Apart from school fees, children also require other resources to support them in learning optimally. Secondly, the poor financial status of parents limits their involvement in their child's education. The parents have to focus on how to meet the basic needs, and since they do so with much strain, they may lack enough time to adequately get involved in the welfare of their children.
The failure of parents to be involved adequately in the education of their children affects the development of the child negatively. The first aspect of the child's wellbeing that suffer is academic performance. In addition, the social-emotional development of the child is also negatively affected. The other aspect of the families and communities in the case study is inadequate access to proper housing. This aspect predisposes both parents and children to some illnesses and poor development. Further, the families and communities in this setup are not able to provide adequate and nutritious meals to children. Evidence has shown that proper nutrition is appropriate for the optimal growth and development of children (Herrera et al., 2020). Therefore, the lack of access to proper and healthy meals also negatively affects the wellbeing of children in the school. When it comes to educational outcomes, lack of access to proper meals may predispose children to poor concentration and, ultimately, poor academic performance. In light of this observation, the families and communities in the case study live in the low-socioeconomic neighborhood. As a result, they experience the challenges associated with a low financial endowment.
Developing Respectful Relationships
One of the ways in which I plan to develop respectful relationships includes providing regular communication. Proper communication is necessary to establish trust and respect between teachers and parents (Hamlin & Li, 2020). Part of the communication includes informing the parent about the progress of their child. To earn respect, it is also important to maintain proper confidentiality. During communication, I plan to observe this confidentiality. Principle 4c of the ethical guidelines advocates for the maintenance of family privacy/ confidentiality. Secondly, I plan to be devoted to active listening. When dealing with parents from diverse backgrounds, it is keen to listen to their issues and fears intently and respond appropriately. Parents may have questions, fears, or even concerns. As a teacher, I plan to listen effectively to these issues and address them to the best of my ability.
Thirdly, I plan to foster the involvement of parents in the education process. Allowing parents to actively participate in the education process greatly helps foster mutual respect and trust. For instance, I plan to allow parents to volunteer in classroom activities. In addition, parents shall also be welcome to participate in various school activities. One of the ethical standards (2c) advocate for the involvement of the parents and families in the education process. Fourthly, I plan to be a teacher who respects cultural differences and any form of diversity (Suna et al., 2020). In the contemporary world, diversity is considered a strength. No person should be discriminated against due to their diverse origins or backgrounds. I plan to respect every parent and every family and consider their diversity as a strength. Ethical standards also advocate for the observance and maintenance of the principle of respecting diverse families.
The other way in which I plan to develop a respectful relationship is by seeking input/feedback from parents. The best way to achieve this is by asking for appropriate feedback. For instance, it may help to ask the parent about the child’s progress at home. Seeking this feedback shows the parent that the teacher is concerned about the wellbeing of the child. Since both parent and teacher are key to the wellbeing of the child, seeking such feedback enables establish respectful relationships (Jong et al., 2019). In light of these observations, establishing respectful relationships needs not to be a mountainous task. It is the child who brings the child and parent together. Therefore, for the wellbeing of the child, it is necessary to establish a relationship based on respect and trust between the educator and parent.
Community Strengths and Resources
Head Start School has several community strengths and resources. The first strength is a staff devoted to achieving maximum positive outcomes for learners. Having devoted educators is, without doubt, a strength since it means that educators give their all ...