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Working with Families of Children with Special Needs: Family and Professional Partnerships and Roles, 1e © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved.

HISTORICAL AND CURRENT PERSPECTIVES OF FAMILY

INVOLVEMENT

Chapter 2

Working with Families of Children with Special Needs: Family and Professional Partnerships and Roles, 1e by Nancy M. Sileo and Mary Anne Prater

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.2

Objectives  Outline major historical efforts that promoted family’s

involvement in their child’s education.  Describe current perspectives and models of parental

involvement.  Define parent involvement mechanisms and barriers to

school involvement.  Describe profiles of families unique to those with children

with special needs.

Working with Families of Children with Special Needs: Family and Professional Partnerships and Roles, 1e by Nancy M. Sileo and Mary Anne Prater

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.3

Historical Perspective Treatment of Individuals with Disabilities

 Philosophical influences  John Locke (1632-1704)  Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)  Jean Piaget, Maria Montessori, John Dewey, and Lev Vygotsky

 Advocacy  U.S. President’s Panel on Mental Retardation (1962)  Special Olympics (1968)

 Legal protection

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Working with Families of Children with Special Needs: Family and Professional Partnerships and Roles, 1e by Nancy M. Sileo and Mary Anne Prater

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.4

Historical Perspective Family Involvement in Education

 Families and schools  18th – 19th centuries, private institutions  19th – 20th centuries, public institutions  “By the 1950s, teachers typically held the view that they were the

educators and parents should support their efforts (Anafara, 2008).”

 Laws  Federal law mandated parent involvement in schools (Elementary and

Secondary Education Act of 1965).  Parents are required to serve on school advisory boards and to participate

in classroom activities (No Child Left Behind, Title 1, 2002).

Working with Families of Children with Special Needs: Family and Professional Partnerships and Roles, 1e by Nancy M. Sileo and Mary Anne Prater

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.5

Current Perspectives of Family Involvement

 Overlapping spheres of influence  Although school and home provide different contexts for learning, parents

and educators in both settings can support student achievement.  Epstein’s (1995) model of parent involvement includes parenting,

communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community.

 Model of parent involvement  Parents’ beliefs about their ability to support education influence their level

of involvement.  Parents construct roles for themselves based on their beliefs about their

ability to become involved in their child’s academic lives.  Parents’ perceptions of invitations for involvement affect their level of

involvement.  Circumstances of parents’ lives will influence school involvement.

Working with Families of Children with Special Needs: Family and Professional Partnerships and Roles, 1e by Nancy M. Sileo and Mary Anne Prater

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.6

Current Perspectives of Family Involvement

(continued…)  Parent involvement mechanisms

 Modeling: Parents model school-related behaviors that help their children learn to value education.

 Reinforcement: Parents’ reinforcement of academic behavior motivates their children to expend effort to learn.

 Direct instruction: Parents’ instruction at home helps students advance academically.

 Barriers to school involvement  School factors  Family/cultural factors

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Working with Families of Children with Special Needs: Family and Professional Partnerships and Roles, 1e by Nancy M. Sileo and Mary Anne Prater

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.7

Profiles of Families of Children with Special Needs

 Financial stress

 Social stigmatization

 Emotional difficulty and stress

Working with Families of Children with Special Needs: Family and Professional Partnerships and Roles, 1e by Nancy M. Sileo and Mary Anne Prater

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.8

Summary  Historically parents have been granted opportunities for participation in their child’s

education based on philosophical influences, advocacy, and legal protection.  Although a relatively recent practice, today parents play a crucial role in the education of

their children.  Students are impacted by overlapping spheres of influence which include home, school,

friends, and community.  Epstein identified six types of parent involvement to be: parenting, communicating,

volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community.  Parent participation is influenced by their beliefs about their abilities, perceptions of

invitations for involvement, and life circumstances.  Parents help their children improve academically by modeling school-related behaviors,

reinforcing academic behavior, and directly teaching skills.  Barriers exist that prevent parents from participating, such as cultural mismatch between

family and school personnel, and parents misunderstanding their role in partnership with the school.

 Parents of children with disabilities are often impacted with financial stress, social stigmatization, and stress which may influence their ability to participate in their child’s education.