From Moral Supporters to Struggling Advocates

Parental involvement is an important topic in the field of education.  This article by Auerbach highlights some important flaws in assumptions we make about parental involvement in education.  For example, we know that it is good that parents are involved with their children's education.  However, we assume that every demographic has the same involvement and ability to be involved with education.  In reality, discriminated groups such as African Americans do not have the economic ability to be as involved in their children's education in the same way as whites.  I think we as educators forget, as the article highlights, that these groups have been discriminated against over time with the educational system failing them.  Therefore, these groups are more likely to be skeptical and not want to participate in the educational system.  We need to restore their faith.
Though the article highlights the inequality that contributes to less minority parent involvement, I think solutions are what we need most.  Teachers need to do all they can to work in a team-like fashion with parents to make them feel comfortable and welcomed by the educational system.  If not, they will feel alienated and participate less rather than more.  It is our jobs as educators to reach out to these families, such as by a friendly phone call in the evening, to try to warm them toward involvement.  If we don't make all demographics feel welcomed, it will be impossible to get them involved in the educational system.
The biggest thing I got from this article was that we need to look at this topic from the minority perspective, as up until now educators use their white middle class perspectives to inaccurately explain why minority parental involvement is limited.  For example, they do not realize that minority families may make sacrifices to enable their children to go to better schools or might limit chore responsibilities of their children so that they can focus on school (pg. 252).  Teachers may not see this and view minority parents' apparent apathy towards attending things such as conferences or back to school nights as laziness and a lack of care.  However, these educators need to realize that minority parents may have different cultural assumptions, such as that parents do not have a role in their child's education and should not be actively involved in the school.  This is simply miscommunication between cultures and results in misunderstanding and an end result of continued non involvement in education by minority parents.  Instead, we need to let them know it is alright to be involved and welcome them, not making assumptions of these people who are from different cultures. This article suggests it is possible to find a way in to get minority parents involved in their children's education, we as educators just need to stop finding these ways through a strictly white middle class perspective.