Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

690 The Praeger Handbook of Education and Psychology
teacher, one student, and a community member. In essence each student TEAM member is given
a personal team to advocate for her and assist her in navigating the system. Students are the
most important members of TEAM because they represent the future of our country. Two of the
most important goals of the team are one that all students and parents involved eventually learn
to navigate the system and two that both students and parents learn to advocate for themselves.
Navigating the system and knowing how to self-advocate are basic survival tools which more
often than not are missing form the toolkits of the underserved children and parents.
In light of the present day reality of disenfranchised parents and forgotten children, teacher’s
roles have expanded to that of parent counselor. This role entails building a connection with the
“hard to reach/low profile” parents and creating a supportive and nurturing place for them to
be seen and heard in the school community. As I discovered it can happen simply by human
agency. Teachers can have a strategic impact on building the bridge between home, school, and
community. TEAM is an example of an alternative approach for partnering with parents.
SHIFT FOR THE RETURN OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
A reanalysis and reconstruction of the norm must take place in order to discover the remaining
missing pieces needed to create a support system for parents that will ultimately benefit underachieving
and underserved students. School communities must be able to admit and see that
something is amiss if a percentage of the parent population continues to be invisible. Contradictions
abound in education. Teaching involves both intended and unintended lessons, and often
the unintended lesson, that parental involvement of the “other” is not welcomed, is the message
that is sent by the schools. I argue that the resounding message echoing forth through the walls
of academia is that parents who are not involved and subsequently whose voices are not heard
are people who are not embraced by the school community. Living in a society that professes
democratic beliefs and practices should be an adequate reason to become proactive about this
issue. It is morally wrong and undemocratic to allow such an obvious human disconnect to occur
when a shift in thinking and the launching of a action plan can make an immediate and significant
difference in the level of involvement of high school parents traditionally known as “hard to
reach/low profile” parents. A successful shift can make a difference in the lives of many parents
and students and have a resounding impact on society. Parents and students can benefit through
a renewed faith in the educational system that previously distance them, and then subsequently
society can benefit from students emerging into the “real world” with a sense of purpose and
direction. TEAM is an example of what a shift in thinking and a commitment to action can
produce in answer to the dismal scenario of unwelcome parents and invisible students. Educators
can make a difference in high schools with increased parent involvement.
Educators need to shift support for parental involvement at the high school level not only for
the sake of the students but also for a productive future society as well. How is it possible to
forget underachieving students, become oblivious to their needs, and closed off to all possible
means of correcting the situation? Two contrasting ways to address this pressing situation is first:
(1) to remain oblivious to the needs of students and ignore the obvious positive contribution that
parental involvement can afford to students and schools and (2) to tackle this issue by moving
forward with the vision of a critical educator. I decided to move forward with a critical vision and
start TEAM, a support group, in an effort to partner with parents for the benefit of the students
as well as the society. TEAM stands for Teacher Efforts—Advocating/Motivating. TEAM is a
teacher-initiated support group formed for the purpose of giving support to students and parents
while advocating on their behalves and motivating them to master navigation of the intricacies
and subtleties of the system. The end goal is for the parents as well as the students to be able to
have their voices heard and recognized and to encourage self-advocacy for both.