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As important as it is to get families involved in their children’s education, it can be a challenge. During the edLeader Panel “10 Strategies to Strengthen Family Engagement: From Intention to Action,” Rebecca Honig, Chief Content and Curriculum Officer at ParentPowered, and Françoise Lartigue, former teacher and current Director of Content and Curriculum at ParentPowered, discussed strategies to help families become involved with school, learning, and the community.

Often, families have busy lives that make getting involved with school difficult. They might even have their own educational trauma and negative preconceived notions about school that cause stress when schools reach out. Because of this, it’s important to build a sense of trust and community with families, making them feel welcome and helping them become involved.

Create Welcoming Spaces

Schools can make spaces feel welcoming for families by generating a positive impression as early as the front office. This helps families feel less stressed, making communication easier. Ensure there are places to sit and converse, ways to learn about the school and give feedback, and indications of learning and school and community spirit.

Actively Listen

Families should feel heard and valued, so active listening is vital. This builds and establishes trust and communication, and increases productivity and collaboration. It’s done by offering full attention to the speaker, giving physical indications such as nodding or eye contact, reserving judgment, and summarizing what the speaker said to avoid miscommunications.

Since educators and administrators are authority figures, families might find it difficult to share certain information. To combat this, ask questions, such as what the parents want for their child. Families want to be engaged and heard, so talking to them as educational partners helps them open up about themselves and their children, reducing any anxiety. This, in turn, helps teachers identify skills parents can build at home that are complementary to what’s being taught in classrooms, such as age-appropriate ways to help with homework and guiding questions instead of direct help.

Be Proactive

Proactive outreach helps families see that the school cares and makes them feel more comfortable reaching out in the future. It’s important that a school’s initial communication with families is positive, building a foundation of trust and laying the groundwork for potential difficult conversations in the future. An example of this is making phone calls to families to share students’ positive traits and accomplishments in the classroom

Provide Support

Schools have many systems that families must navigate (health, safety, transportation, etc.), so it’s important to understand what each system is asking of them. For example, they must keep track of login and contact information, websites, and technology needed to access various systems, which can all add up. Schools should provide scaffolding to support families and help navigate these potentially confusing systems.

Learn what families need and how to get it to them. Informational sessions and home visits can help here. Strengths-based communication, communication that sticks to the point, centers around a main idea, and uses short sentences and common words, is also helpful. Being clear and concise means less confusion and less important information missed. In addition, it makes translating for foreign language speakers easier.

Build Community

Building a sense of community in and outside of school gives families connections they can turn to in times of need. By making schools places where families feel comfortable visiting and see as part of the community, they get a support center and can connect with one another.

Schools can accomplish this by hosting social and sporting events and finding other ways to engage in the community, such as art nights or lending libraries. Additionally, schools can partner with organizations that provide families with support—such as healthcare or financial aid—and ways to stay informed about what resources are available and how to access them.

Families should feel comfortable and confident getting involved in their children’s education. By helping them feel welcomed, heard, and supported, schools and families can build partnerships and work together towards student success.

Learn more about this edWeb broadcast, 10 Strategies to Strengthen Family Engagement: From Intention to Action, sponsored by ParentPowered.

Watch the RecordingListen to the Podcast

Join the Community

Community & Family Engagement is a free professional learning community where district and school administrators, teachers, counselors, support staff, and all educators can connect and share ideas, practices, and resources to support students and families and engage the community in helping students learn and thrive.

Research shows that families play a powerful role in fostering children’s development. ParentPowered is on a mission to help K–12 districts provide accessible, evidence-based family engagement curricula, without adding more to teachers’ plates. Our program—for PreK through grade 12—supports, inspires, and activates parents and caregivers with simple, strengths-based insights they can turn into everyday teachable moments. Learn more and request a demo at parentpowered.com.

Article by Jon Scanlon, based on this edLeader Panel