Parents, Families and Partnerships: Issues and Considerations - Assignment Example

Parents, Families and Partnerships: Issues and Considerations 1. Keen, Deb. “Parents, Families and Partnerships: Issues and Considerations.” International Journal of Disability, Development and Education. 54. 3 (2007): 339-349. Print. A. What were the key issues you identified in the readings? Generally, this article focuses on the problem of establishing fruitful partnerships between parents of exceptional children and helping professionals. The relationship between the parents of a disabled child and the disability professional start from the early childhood, namely when the diagnosis is produced. That is a starting point for development of numerous relationships with a variety of specialists who are involved in this specific field. While the primary goal of the partnership is to provide help and improve parent and children outcomes, they might as well put the success of these outcomes at risk. Hence, the author examines the elements of productive relationships. Specifically, the article focuses on how parents with a disabled child can build meaningful and fruitful partnerships with service delivery professionals. B. What did you find of most interest in the readings? Why is this important to you and how does it relate to your own experience or context? The article “Parents, Families and Partnerships: Issues and Considerations” has interested me greatly. In particular, I found it useful to learn about ways to improve cooperation between parents and families that have children with special needs and those professionals who help to educate these kids. Importantly, the research helps to identify the evident link between qualified help giving and parents’ growing empowerment. It also allows distinguishing a few most important directions in forming collaborative and fruitful partnerships. C. What questions or disagreements do you have about any aspects of the readings? I have a few questions regarding the article’s theme and observations. These are: How do parents’ demographic features influence the formation of successful partnerships? Does the age of disabled child influence the successful formation of partnerships between the help giving professionals and families? How frequent should the interactions be to leave parents satisfied with the help provided? D. What else would you like to know about this topic? The things I would like to know more about include few gaps in the field theoretical research. For instance, it would be helpful to explore how help-giving influence and formed partnerships have improved children’s development and reduced problems related to these children’s behaviour. In addition, it would be interesting to know the findings of some serious longitudinal study examining the influence of specific variables (parents’ economic status, health, emotional condition, etc) on the outcomes of family-professional partnerships. 2. Simpson, Richard L. “Development of trust in the family-professional relationship.” Working with Parents and Families of Exceptional Children and Youth. Ed. Richard Simpson. Austin. Tex: Pro-Ed. 1996. Print. A. What were the key issues you identified in the readings? This article discusses the problem of trust development in the relationships between families who have children with special needs and help giving professionals. Specifically, the author believes that it is the cultivation of trust that ensures successful collaboration between service delivery specialists and parents of exceptional children. B. What did you find of most interest in the readings? Why is this important to you and how does it relate to your own experience or context? I am interested in focusing on trust development as one of the core strategies of building successful partnerships between parents of disabled children and educators. Since trust is represented as a condition that should be strived for, it is interesting to know how to effectively establish trustful relationships in practice. C. What questions or disagreements do you have about any aspects of the readings? The question that I would like to be answered is: How do parents’ variables affect the formation of trust in family-professional relationships? D. What else would you like to know about this topic? I am interested in more practical recommendations on trust formation. 3. Simpson, Richard L. “Listening to parents and family members.” Working with Parents and Families of Exceptional Children & Youth. Richard Simpson Ed. Austin Tex: Pro-Ed. 1996. Print. A. What were the key issues you identified in the readings? The issue of attending to exceptional children’s families’ and parents’ needs through careful listening is highlighted as one of the basic to formation of successful collaboration with service professionals. B. What did you find of most interest in the readings? Why is this important to you and how does it relate to your own experience or context? It was useful to learn about the importance of listening in establishing trustworthy relationships and successful collaboration. In particular, people often get bored listening to other people’s problems and difficulties, which should no way be the case with help giving specialists. C. What questions or disagreements do you have about any aspects of the readings? The question to be asked is: What are the biggest barriers to effective listening from the professional’s perspective? D. What else would you like to know about this topic? I would be interested in learning more about practical implications of effective listening skills. Also, it would be good to read more about real-life examples when listening helped to form successful partnerships with families who have disabled children. 4. Shelden, Debra, Maureen Angell, Julia Stoner, and Bill Roseland. “School Principal’s Influence on Trust: Perspectives of Mothers of Children with Disabilities.” The Journal of Educational Research. 103. 3 (2010): 159-170. A. What were the key issues you identified in the readings? This article focuses on the results of a qualitative study of the problem of trust in the relationships between families of special needs children and educators. Namely, the essence of trust between disabled children’s mothers and school principals is explored. B. What did you find of most interest in the readings? Why is this important to you and how does it relate to your own experience or context? I have been particularly interested in disabled children’s mothers responses and how they were analyzed. Also, the implications for a school leader have been of great interest to me. C. What questions or disagreements do you have about any aspects of the readings? The question that I would like to ask could be: Should mothers be taught to take care of their children in a way that suggests employing a variety of professional characteristics? D. What else would you like to know about this topic? Things to learn more about this topic include: how/whether mothers can influence the school climate and their children’s relationships with other kids. Works Cited Keen, Deb. “Parents, Families and Partnerships: Issues and Considerations.” International Journal of Disability, Development and Education. 54. 3 (2007): 339-349. Print. Shelden, Debra, Maureen Angell, Julia Stoner, and Bill Roseland. “School Principal’s Influence on Trust: Perspectives of Mothers of Children with Disabilities.” The Journal of Educational Research. 103. 3 (2010): 159-170. Simpson, Richard L. “Development of trust in the family-professional relationship.” Working with Parents and Families of Exceptional Children and Youth. Ed. Richard Simpson. Austin. Tex: Pro-Ed. 1996. Print. Simpson, Richard L. “Listening to parents and family members.” Working with Parents and Families of Exceptional Children & Youth. Richard Simpson Ed. Austin Tex: Pro-Ed. 1996. Print. Read More