Delivery, Enrollment, and Facilitation
This is a mastery-based course with no discussion forums. The course will be delivered in a fully online format. This course is non-facilitated, and is designed to be completed independently. It is self-paced, with an enrollment period of 60 days, which begins immediately upon confirmation of registration. A Help Forum is included in the course that will be carefully monitored by an online facilitator.
Description
Building Family Partnerships is designed to equip educators, administrators, and other stakeholders with the knowledge, skills, and strategies necessary to build effective partnerships with families and caregivers in support of student learning and success. Throughout this course, participants will explore the importance of family engagement in education and examine practices for fostering positive relationships between families, schools, and communities. By the end of this course, participants will have a deeper understanding of the essential role that family partnerships play in promoting student success and will be well-prepared to implement strategies and practices that effectively engage and empower families in their children’s education.
Course Outline
Session 1: Student Orientation
Session 2: A Successful Parent-Teacher Partnership
- Realize the importance of parent-teacher partnerships.
- Value communication as a key component in building parent-teacher relationships.
- Employ strategies to empower parents and families to participate in their child’s education.
- Explore strength-based attitudes and relationship-based practices.
Session 3: The Benefits of Parent Involvement
- Understand the link between parent involvement and student academic success.
- Explore the impact of parent involvement on students’ social-emotional development, self-esteem, and overall well-being.
- Discover the long-term benefits of parent involvement, such as increased college enrollment and improved career prospects for students.
Session 4: Overcoming Barriers to Parent Involvement
- Identify potential barriers to parent engagement.
- Understand how cultural differences and socioeconomic factors can impact parent engagement and exploring culturally responsive approaches to address these challenges.
- Explore effective communication strategies that promote trust, transparency, and collaboration between families and schools.
- Discover ways to communicate with difficult parents.
Prerequisites
This is an intermediate level course for teachers, literacy coaches, curriculum specialists, professional development specialists, or other school personnel. Participants are expected to have regular access to computers with Internet access. In addition, participants should be proficient with browsing the Internet, uploading and downloading content, navigating to computer files, and with using word processing software, email, and attachments.
Required Materials
All materials in this course are the property of the South Carolina Department of Education Office of VirtualSC PD. All course materials needed/required for the workshop are available online.