NYS Ed Dept Invests in Families
By TOM KERTES

The importance of parent involvement is a relatively novel concept in public education, and experts in the field are still discovering the most effective ways to encourage it.

“We are not exactly reinventing the wheel here,” said Alma Houston, Director of Community Services for the New York State Department of Education, greeting groups of involved parents from around the State who were in Brooklyn to participate in a workshop. “But yes, we are definitely doing some serious polishing.”

To achieve that fine shine, the department has been running a year-long series of workshops and seminars around New York State.

“The philosophy is: A better-educated parent makes for better public education,” Houston said. “And the benefit is truly mutual. We use these parents on our advisory committees and councils for outside ideas on how to make our schools better.”

The concept for the latest workshop, “The Bone Deep Method of Parent Leadership and Family Advocacy,” was almost revolutionary.

“Currently, and throughout history, school involvement in family support was 100 percent deficit-based,” said Virginia Martinez, director of the Colorado Family Advocacy Center and the leader of the workshop.

“The school, or other government agencies, would look at the family that came to them for help and basically tell them what to do. We are aiming to change that profoundly into an entirely different, strength-based approach—one that respects and acknowledges each individual family’s culture, and one that involves the subject family as a full partner in the process.”

The day-long workshop started with the participants introducing themselves and participating, under the guidance of Martinez, in meditation and self-discovery exercises.

“The journey begins with the self,” Martinez said. “If you don’t respect and can’t take care of yourself, how are you going to be effective in helping others?”

During the workshop, parents reviewed effective approaches to deal with groups. Participants looked at group types, stages and development, all in the context of how to best empower all types of families.

“We are teaching people to teach families how they can best help themselves,” Martinez said. “And that can only be done through respect, confidence and strength.”

Family support seems to be moving towards a new set of beliefs, evolving into grassroots, community-based programs. Instead of the old approach of trying to fix something that’s already broken, the movement is now aiming to strengthen families before they fall apart.

“We must come to the realization that we can no longer afford to neglect families at risk,” said Martinez. “An investment in families is an investment in our future.”