I spent this past weekend in Memphis gathering baseline data for my Greenfield project*. I had the opportunity to speak with many residents about their thoughts on how education affects them, their children, and their neighborhoods, and it helped me to realize just how complex the situation is.
I am particularly interested in the opinions of parents in impoverished neighborhoods, as I don’t think their voice is heard very often. The parents I spoke with are anxious to see the city schools improve and spent a lot of time talking about how this could happen. They all agree that communication and a joint effort that goes both ways between teachers and parents is needed.
Below are excerpts from mothers in South Memphis, home of the Stax museum, and in Binghampton.
Michelle finds it very useful when the school sends information about her child’s performance (academically and behaviorally) home on a daily basis:
Charlene thinks her son should have more homework so that he can refine his knowledge at home, but as of now he is rarely assigned homework. She also speaks the importance of parents and teachers working together:
Kristie talks about how caring parents can act as a catalyst for change in impoverished neighborhoods:
No comments:
Post a Comment