Group Focus
An Assignment Submitted by
Name of Student
Name of Establishment
Class XXXX, Section XXXX, Fall 2012
Group Focus
Parental involvement in school activities has positive effect on children. One of the activities which can be performed is special discussion sessions engaging parents and students and aiming to assist children with decision making regarding their future careers. Issue of future career choice is significant for each of the families especially in high school. Consequently, parents and children will be interested in this issue. Moreover, even though this topic seems more focused on individuals than on community as a whole, an emphasis can be placed on general job distribution in society.
During the meeting children will make small presentations about careers they want to pursue in future while parents will explain what future occupation they advise to their children and other students. An educator, from his/ her side, can provide information about positions required on job market.
Discussion sessions will be advantageous in several ways. Firstly, researches prove that traditional home supervision is not very effective activity. On the other hand, expectations parents have for their offspring are more influential (Fan and Chen, 2001). Consequently, if parents clearly introduce their points of view and provide essential evidence to support their perspective, children will be able to see and possibly understand the choice of parents. The same is applied to children: providing information regarding their career choice will lead to better understanding from adults (parents and educators). Secondly, parents participating in school projects influence children’s perception of educators and school in general (Okpala, Okpala & Smith, 2001). Children perceive that family and school act as one, aim for the same. This creates comfortable environment for studying: students trust educators more and, because of this, their academic achievements improve.
Overall, discussion sessions will help students with their academic achievements, assist parents in bridging the gap between them and their children, give educators higher level of trust from students.
References
Fan, X. & Chen, M. (2001). Parental involvement and students’ academic achievement: A meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 13 (1), 1-22.
Okpala, Comfort O., Amon O. Okpala & Frederick E. Smith (2001). Parental
Involvement, Instructional Expenditures, Family Socioeconomic Attributes, and
Student Achievement. The Journal of Educational Research, 95(2), 110-115.
Tutwiler, S. W. (2005). Teachers as Collaborative Partners: Working With Diverse Families and Communities. New York: Routledge.
GROUP FOCUS …