My five children are scattered through three schools in our local public-school system—three in elementary, one in middle school, and one in high school. That means that over the course of one long week in the fall my wife and I have to run the gantlet of three separate Know Your School nights.
If you have not had the pleasure of attending such events, they offer exactly what you might surmise from their title: an opportunity for parents to come into the school one evening, meet their children's teachers, and get a glimpse of what the little darlings do during an average day. In elementary schools, where the students spend all day in the same room, you will generally sit through a short presentation, then have the opportunity to walk around the classroom, see the students' work, and write a note to your child.
At the middle- and high-school level, you meet teachers in 10-minute periods, following your child's schedule. You shuffle from classroom to classroom, getting a more sophisticated version of the same spiel you get in the elementary school, with a bit more emphasis on how you as parents can still contribute to your children's education as they get older. Often teachers will let you know about field trips or school events and ask for chaperones or volunteers.
These events always seem to fall during a week in which I have a stack of papers to grade, or an evening event on my own campus, which means that I usually dread seeing them on the house calendar. Moreover, the obvious discomfort that some of my children's teachers feel at having to speak to a roomful of parents can be painful to watch.
However, once I am seated in the tiny desk, and have the opportunity to imagine my way into my child's school day, I'm happy to be there. My children spend many of their waking hours in the charge of these adults, whom I barely know, so hearing about each teacher's typical classroom activities, educational objectives, and homework strategies makes me feel better about sending my kids off each morning.
This year, the week after I met my children's teachers, I helped to organize a kind of Know Your College event on my campus. The student council for the honors program I direct decided to hold an induction ceremony that would officially welcome new students into the program, and give their parents and relatives a chance to meet our faculty members. The students designed the ceremony, while I worked with an administrative assistant to arrange the logistics, and gave a short speech.
It was a lovely event, followed by an informal reception with sweets, coffee, and tea, which gave students a chance to hang with their parents and introduce them to me or the other faculty members.
As soon as I was finished congratulating the event organizers and thanking the professors and administrators who had participated in the evening, I set out to grab some chocolate cake and circulate. Before I could get near the dessert table, though, a student in my honors course approached me, with her parents in tow.
Looking somewhat sheepish, she said, "My mom and dad wanted to meet you."
So I shook hands, told them what a wonderful student their daughter was (which was true), and spent a few satisfying minutes hearing about how much she was enjoying the college and the honors program.
As soon as we finished talking, I turned my way toward the desserts again, where I spotted no fewer than three groups of students, and their parents, lying in wait for me. I spoke with each of them in turn, chatting about their children and the honors program. I spent the next 30 minutes in much the same way, with parent after parent. By the time I was finished, and the hall was clearing out, the cake was all gone.
As I drove home that evening, cakeless but nonetheless well satisfied with the evening, what struck me was the tentative, hopeful looks on the faces of the parents as they tracked me across the room. They seemed so thrilled to meet me, or to speak to the other faculty members. It puzzled me until I began to put it together with my experiences the previous week at my children's schools.
For 13 years, from kindergarten through high school, I will be invited to meet my children's teachers, learn about their educational strategies, and participate in as many school activities as I want. I will sit at their desks, see their classrooms, walk their hallways.
But that opportunity will come to a crashing halt in two and a half years, when my oldest daughter heads off to college. Sure, I will be invited to orientation and Parents Weekend, and perhaps other special occasions on the campus. But I will not meet her teachers each semester. My only understanding of what happens in her courses will come from her. I won't get the chance to imagine myself into her day by sitting at her desk and hearing what her teachers sound like, how they lecture, what kinds of activities they like to do in class. My contact with my daughter's academic life will be reduced to a single source of information.
As much as I love my daughter—and she has many wonderful qualities—frequent and open communication with her parents is not her strongest suit. In other words, she's a teenager.
All of which has raised the question: Why don't we ever invite the parents of our students into our classrooms? In most cases, those parents are paying enormous sums for us to educate their children. Don't we owe them an accounting of what we do in our courses?
I can hear the horrified gasps from many of you—and imagine the kinds of online comments that will soon appear—at the prospect of helicopter parents buzzing into your classrooms and eyeing you skeptically while you teach. So let me clarify: I am not proposing that we open our classes on a weekly or monthly basis. However, I don't see any reason that institutions could not arrange a Know Your College Day in which we would provide a brief welcome and course overview to visiting parents.
Sure, some faculty members might resent the intrusion and the extra work it entails. The logistics of fitting extra bodies into our regular classrooms might also prove difficult. Still, I would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate to parents the value of my English courses.
At a recent department meeting, in which we were discussing declining enrollments in the English major, more than one of my colleagues around the table shared a common story: Students who showed a clear aptitude for reading literature and writing about it, and who would have loved to become English majors, had been discouraged by their parents from majoring in our field, and instead were steered toward pre-professional majors.
I'm confident that if I could get some of those parents into my classroom, and show them the nature and value of what we do, I could help overcome some of their stereotypical notions about the "useless" nature of the English major. I am guessing that my colleagues in a number of other disciplines that seem impractical to many parents—are you out there, philosophers?—would also welcome such an opportunity.
In fact, those of us in the humanities have been the subject of much debate lately about the fate of our disciplines in the light of ever-higher tuition costs and an increasingly technological world. We can talk with our students about the value of what we teach until we are blue in the face, but might we be better served by spending 50 minutes taking the same message to the people holding the purse strings?
Putting such practical motives aside, I can't help feeling that providing more opportunities for parents to learn about the education they are purchasing, and welcoming them into our classrooms once a semester, just seems like the right thing to do.
Comments
1. quidditas - December 01, 2010 at 06:41 am
"Should we organize Know Your College events for professors to meet the people paying the tuition bills?"
Yes.
2. 22228715 - December 01, 2010 at 07:36 am
Well, actually, with tuition what it is, for many students a large chunk or even the majority of the tuition bill is being paid by the government (read: the people) either through state funding or federal loans, or by other funders such as individual and corporate donors. So, why limit it so severely to just parents... make the open house really open and open it to the public. That would be interesting!
But your point about winning over those who don't know the humanities is well-taken, so long as the parent interaction can be crafted to focus them on learning about the coursework and the college. Unfortunately, I suspect the script for most parents would be the elementary school parent-teacher conference where the subject was the small child's personality, success or failure at self-discipline, and potential, and where parents might have been used to punish/encourage behavior in place of the child's maturity-level to do so himself. If this idea perpetuates, then I would fear that the parents would have unrealistic expectations of the faculty's focus with his/her adult off-spring, and might risk pushing a generation that is already maturationally immature even further to the margins of their own college education.
3. theblondeassassin - December 01, 2010 at 07:45 am
I didn't realise that universities didn't.
My parents certainly came along with me to various events 30 years ago, and met quite a few of my professors.
There is an important difference, however, between elementary school, where parents to a large extent "co-create" their children's learning, and university, where students alone are responsible for their learning.
Hence, schools have parent evenings to faciliate learning, not to demonstrate spending; universities have parent days to encourage donations, not to facilitate learning.
4. christophknoess - December 01, 2010 at 08:02 am
Parental support is an important factor in student persistence and success. Institutions who are adept at harnessing and channeling that support have more successful students and spend less on student support.
But just as the emotional maturity of freshmen students declines and their need for parental support increases, institutions (and their faculty) can hide behind FERPA to keep parents on the outside. Where research trumps teaching there is no place for parents.
Administrators who care about student success should invite parents onto campus, tell them how they can help their child succeed (and define boundaries) and keep parents informed (students can give institutions permission to do so, and most gladly will when asked.) The flipside is that they need to instruct faculty to focus on learning outcomes and reward them for student success.
www.engagedmindsinc.com
5. tuxthepenguin - December 01, 2010 at 08:37 am
First, let me say I have talked (in person or over the phone) with many parents. I like talking to most of them. We even have events at which I meet the parents of our best students.
Now let me say that I dislike the idea of meeting all parents because they pay the bills. At my university, that's not true. There are large government subsidies, scholarships from donors, and support through grants, and even of the students' own shares, most pay a majority themselves through loans or jobs. This is not much different from arguing that teaching should be evaluated by the students because they pay the bills - and just as untrue.
Such a meeting would be awkward for many students, because the parents don't pay the tuition, and the students take care of themselves. Many would be insulted because they've lived by themselves for several years. Beyond that, we'd have to be careful what we say due to privacy laws.
But sure, I would enjoy meeting for an hour a year with the parents of all my students.
6. olmsted - December 01, 2010 at 09:43 am
Another angle: would this possibly set the parents up for false expectations?
In the world we live in, FERPA rules. I hate it, but it's the reality. And suggesting that Mom and Dad are really a part of Junior's experience, will be informed, etc. rings hollow in my experience. Sure, they may pay the bills (and my wife and I, too, in a couple years), but 'so what' is the federal reply through this rule.
I like visiting with (most) parents, though I have disdain for the ones who call and try to enable their kids. Still, any such meetings need to give the folks a good ole FERPA welcome, lay down the facts...and then work on getting them to be major donors (LOL}.
FLO
7. skaking - December 01, 2010 at 10:40 am
"I'm confident that if I could get some of those parents into my classroom, and show them the nature and value of what we do, I could help overcome some of their stereotypical notions about the "useless" nature of the English major."
but you suggested having the university have a kind of parents' day (one day). do you really think one class is going to assuage their fears that if little muffy (yours must be a rich kid school if the parents are paying the bills. not so where i am.) becomes an english major the best she can hope for is to become a barista?
8. drj50 - December 01, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Interesting idea. Communication is good. And such a program could actually be used to educate parents futher about the limitations that FERPA places on parent-faculty interactions.
However, there might be other -- and possibly easier -- ways to accomplish some of these goals. I can imagine posting a short video introduction to the course online, one that parents as well as students could view. Or post more information about things that graduates can do with that English major (which was my undergraduate major), along with a list of what the past three years' graduates (sans names) are doing with that degree now. Or even include a letter to parents on the department's website addressing parents' concerns about that majoring in philosophy. We have lots of means available to us to communicate with parents and other stakeholders. It would make sense to use them.
9. torihart - December 01, 2010 at 12:12 pm
I encourage all professors to "Meet the Parents" and to share with them the content of the courses emphasizing the quality of course content and how applicable and relevant it is to today's society and economy. Letting parents know what related careers are tied to the courses' content and skills reassures them their student will be employable. They want to know their money is being well spent and that their student is receiving a quality education.
10. robkov - December 01, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Blah, what % of parents are paying these days?
11. squireslibrary - December 01, 2010 at 02:07 pm
While this article (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/08/20/pay) doesn't give the percentage of parents who pay, it does lay out that 32% of students' tuition money comes from parents' savings/income, while another 16% comes from parents' borrowing. Thus, almost half of the money that comes into our schools comes from parents.
12. tuxthepenguin - December 01, 2010 at 02:13 pm
@squireslibrary
Depends a whole lot on the school. I guess much of that is driven by schools like Assumption College.
13. jovanevery - December 01, 2010 at 03:39 pm
Here's the difference. When your kids go off to college they are adults. You are no longer responsible for their education or their conduct. They get to make their own choices.
You may negotiate a different relationship with them. That may be based on your financial interest in their education, in your love for them, or some combination of the two. But from the college's perspective, the student is an independent adult.
I am wary of anything that contributes to the (further) infantilization of university students.
14. michaelddwyer - December 01, 2010 at 03:47 pm
Agree entirely with jovanevery.
Will we start having Parents' Day on Army Bases for 18 year old recruits, or at Junior's first post-collegiate job?
My parents met all my professors...at graduation.
15. doctoral_candidate - December 01, 2010 at 06:25 pm
I agree with jovanevery.
We do not need to further infantilize adult university students. They are adults and should be treated as such. Should parents get a special to see their kids' place of employment? "Bring your parents to work day"??? Get real.
We should also be wary of treating university students as if they are simply customers paying for a service. Colleges and universities should not be in the business of making customers happy, but educating them.
I don't have time in my already over-worked and under-paid schedule, or in my already-packed quarter syllabus to wrangle parents. It's all I can do to make room in my over-crowded classroom for the few who come to class during "Parents' Week' - and I certainly can't fit them in and be within the fire marshall's occupancy limits.
And yes, parents can play a very important role in the education process - even at the college and university level - but its the responsibility of the students and parents to work that out. As adult humans, they have to negotiate that relationship on their own. Also, quite frankly, some parents are not in a position to provide more than emotional or financial support - they haven't all been to college and they haven't all completed the same majoras their children.
The best we can do is encourage our students to seek support from friends & family.
16. greensubmarine - December 01, 2010 at 07:02 pm
I also share jovanevery's concerns. An arrangement that brings parents into the classroom would be like an arrangement that brings parents into the workplace. It would reinforce the pernicious notion that the parent, and not the student, is in some way responsible for the student's actions in the classroom.
Another concern I have is with this statement:
"I'm confident that if I could get some of those parents into my classroom, and show them the nature and value of what we do, I could help overcome some of their stereotypical notions about the 'useless' nature of the English major."
I'm sure that's true for some, but for others I fear that all it would do is provide parents who have preconceived notions about the value, or lack thereof, of particular disciplines, with the opportunity to claim those prejudices are based on their actual experience with what goes on in the classroom. Do the parents who lean on their students to take up 'practical' majors against the students' wishes really need more ammunition to exert their influence? Do we really want to validate the notion that what the material we present is subject to their approval by inviting them into our courses?
While I like the idea of providing the opportunity for students to meet faculty and administrators in an informal setting, I would draw a firm line at letting parents into the classroom.
17. rear_view_mirror - December 01, 2010 at 09:08 pm
If parents are invited to my class they will see:
(1) that the class is too large for the outcomes that are desired,
(2) that we are not provided adequate facilities, and
(3) my teaching, which I like to think is pretty good, and undeniably energetic.
So why would I mind?
18. sara7118 - December 05, 2010 at 11:30 am
My students' parents can learn everything they want to know about my course, strategies, assignments, and sense of humor from my exhaustive web site. They would get a more complete sense of what I do from that than from any one day in the classroom--without distressing the fire marshall or FERPA enforcers.
I don't want to be evaluated by a single class. My classes are usually a combination of demonstration and discussion. Students won't contribute to discussion with the presence of their own and unknown parents in the room. Teachers who present witty lectures will obviously go over better with parents. I can see this idea being supported by show-offs, but I think course web sites are a more practical, thorough, and accurate way to let curious parents and the public learn what goes happens in college.
19. sara7118 - December 05, 2010 at 11:31 am
Where is the Edit button? Please delete "goes" from the prior post.
20. tcli5026 - December 05, 2010 at 12:55 pm
James Lang needs a broader perspective--he needs to acknowledge that many, if not most, professors do not teach a cozy little liberal arts institutions.
I teach at a medium-sized comprehensive public university. My typical upper division course has 40 students squeezed into a classroom that accommodates, oh, about 40 students (and as one other commentator suggested, the Fire Marshall isn't happy when the number of people in a classroom exceeds the official capacity). Moreover, while I teach controversial issues (in Political Science) in a very balanced manner, any single lecture can be taken out of context--and we know what happens then.
I would venture to guess, too, that Dr. Lang's students are all the "traditional" 18- to 20-year old kids that populate small liberal arts schools. I have some of those, but I also have a lot of students in their late-20 and early-30s; I also have my fair share of 40-somethings. Moreover, most of my students work, some full-time. Certainly, these are not the type of students who would invite mom and dad to their classrooms, nor would most be happy to share their classroom with the parents of their younger peers.
Personally, I would not be a fan of this parents-in-the-classroom idea. I can envision all sorts of problems--parents complaining about the content of my courses, parents thinking they have a right (as "paying customers") to tell me what I should and should not teach, etc. (Tellingly, Dr. Lang's example is a reception for parents, teachers, and students--not, as he suggests in his article, a parents-in-the-classroom event.)
I know column writers want to write about issues broadly, but sometimes it's better to acknowledge up front that situations vary considerably, and that what may sound reasonable in one context is wholly unreasonable in another.
21. tcli5026 - December 05, 2010 at 01:06 pm
Addendum.
I probably should have done this first, but I just looked up some facts about Assumption College, where Dr. Lang teaches.
Fall enrollment: 2,150
Average class size: 20
Student/faculty ratio: 12/1
Tuition: $29,806/year + $10,070 room and board
My institution
Fall enrollment: 20,000+
Student/faculty ratio: 23/1
Percent of undergrads 25 or older: 32%
Tuition: $4,026/year