Student Led Conferences Student Led Conferences: Who is Leading? XXXX Student Endicott College Introduction to the Problem Student Led Conferences 2 The students spent weeks preparing portfolios, choosing the “right” pieces to share, those that they were most proud of, they practiced their speeches, knowing exactly what they wanted to say about each individual project and assessment. They also practiced walking around the classroom, knowing what to share with their parents at each station. Weeks of reflecting, goal setting, and conferring with the teacher and the students were anxious, nervous, and anticipating the day. The teacher was merely a guide and conferrer throughout this long process. Students knew what they wanted to share with their parents and the teacher was there to bounce ideas off of. This gave the students an opportunity to take control of their learning, reflect on their progress throughout the school year, and show their parents just how great of a student they had become. Finally the day had arrived: it was their day to shine during Student Led Conferences (SLC). “Student led conferences spotlight the most important person in the process (the student), improve parent involvement, and bring students to the point where they ask their teachers, ‘how can I make my work better?’” (www.kpirc.org, p. 12). (nice set up for the case) Setting the Stage: Background to the Problem In a “Student Led” conference, the conference should remain exactly what it is called. “If the teacher sits down, then the parents talk to the teacher … the idea is to put the student completely in charge of the conference so the educator tries to stay out of the picture as much as possible,” (Sizer, 2012). But often times, there is the case of the parent(s) who will not allow the child to take control. Sometimes what happens is the parent dominates, asking too many questions and allowing little time for the student to explain his or her thinking and work. This is one scenario. There is also the issue of the 3 Student Led Conferences conference turning into a traditional Parent/Teacher conference in which the student says little to nothing during the conference time. The student therein sits and listens to everything the teacher has to say and allowing no time for the student to express his/her own learning. This case is set in a large international school in Southeast Asia. The school is a private, non-profit school run by the parents. Parents play a powerful role in the school and in many cases, the mothers become “helicopter moms”, or moms that are not willing to let their child become independent, follow their child to the classroom, and endlessly email or question what is happening in the classroom. The school focuses a great deal on reflective thinking and becoming global citizens. These are main priorities throughout all the grade levels and are instilled in the students at a young age. Because of the school’s mission, the traditional parent teacher conferences that happened twice a year were changed to SLCs, which were aimed to teach children from second grade upward to think deeply about their learning and show parents the experiences they were having in the classroom by taking control of the conference time using a portfolio of work or presentation of goals as a guide. Description of the Case Aaron is a hardworking, reflective, well-liked student in his third grade class. He enjoys school a great deal, which is seen through his enthusiasm in almost all subject areas during group discussions or partner work. In the weeks building up to Student Led Conference time, Aaron put a lot of pressure on himself, constantly editing or revising his presentation with his goals stated for reading, writing, and math. When the teacher asked why he continued to redo his work, he responds with, “Because I don’t think my parents Student Led Conferences 4 will like it.” The teacher attempted to reassure him that his parents will be proud of him because they will see all the hard work he puts into the classroom every day. Aaron shrugged off the words of his teacher and went back to organizing his portfolio. Within the couple of days before the SLC, the students were getting nervous, but for the most part, there was excitement in the air. Students had practiced speaking with partners about what they were going to say and ran through the rotation in the classroom. When the teacher went to check on Aaron, he seemed stressed and unable to organize his words. The teacher again pulled him aside and tried to ease the stress by letting him know that he is doing a great job and all that his parents are asking for is his best. The next couple of days went really well and Aaron seemed more prepared and less worried about how perfect his presentation was going to be. He practiced a couple of more times with his partner and once with the teacher. When his last practice was through, the teacher reassured him that he was ready and that everything looks great, his reflections were thoughtful and his goals were accessible. For the first time, Aaron seemed proud of the work that he had done in the last couple of weeks and was looking forward to sharing his work with his parents the following day. When his conference time came, Aaron was a little nervous, as the teacher could see him fidgeting when he came in with his mom and dad. His mom has always been very involved in his schooling, always walking him to the classroom door, emailing the teacher with constant updates, and writing notes in his folder. The teacher knows his mother very well, but this is the first time meeting the father. She was anxious to see the dynamic of this conference. Student Led Conferences 5 Because two students at a time were in the classroom, the teacher walked around to make sure the computers were working properly or guide the students if they were stuck on anything. No time was given for parents to directly talk to the teacher because the school did not want to take away from the student’s time. However, when Aaron’s mom and dad walked in, handshakes were given and immediately the questions flooded to the teacher. “How is Aaron compared to the other students in his class? His ISA scores were not as high as I would have liked.” Aaron looked at the teacher and knowing that it was his day, the teacher kindly responded, “Aaron has a lot of great work to show you. If you would like to talk about his progress another day, then please email me a time to meet. Today is Aaron’s day.” The mother was unhappy with this response as she looked grimly at the teacher but followed Aaron to the back table with her husband. Throughout the conference the teacher checked on Aaron and his parents a few times to make sure that Aaron was achieving what he set out to do. Every time the teacher went to the table, another question awaited from his mother, “Are these goals appropriate? What do the other students do? If his goal is to read at an N by the end of the year, what is he now?” The teacher consistently said to her that it was Aaron’s day and that she would be more than happy to set up another appointment. Aaron was able to finish his presentation, but little or no questions were asked for Aaron to show how much he learned. His parents showed little interest in his projects or his portfolio work that he put a great amount of effort into. After the meeting, Aaron’s mother went up to the teacher and set an appointment up for the following week to check on his scores. Aaron left looking upset and defeated. 6 Student Led Conferences The following day, the teacher gave the students a reflection questionnaire on how they felt their conference went to get an overall sense of student and parent feedback. Most students were very proud of themselves, but Aaron’s head was hung in sadness. When reading his feedback sheet, some of his comments consisted of, “My parents didn’t listen to me.” “I wish I got to share everything that I practiced for.” “My parents were upset that the teacher didn’t talk more.” Did Aaron overreact in his response? Were his parents out of line during the conference time leading Aaron to feel uncomfortable? How much of the conference should be student-led when it is called a student led conference? Should Aaron do his conference over again? Guiding Questions 1. Is this a problem that is consistent throughout the grade levels in the school? If so, should this problem be addressed as a staff or on an individual basis? 2. Are there some preparatory actions in which the school or teacher should engage with the parents prior to beginning this model? 3. Should the teacher be very involved during the conference time? If so, how much? How little? What is too much? 4. Should this specific teacher let the parents know Aaron’s reaction to the conference? Would letting them know help Aaron’s success in future SLCs? 5. Are there professional issues that would need to be addressed if the teacher contacted the parents directly? Is it a cultural issue with parent expectations? 7 Student Led Conferences References Kansas Parent Information Resource Center. (1998). Student Led Parent Conferences Retrieved from http://www.kpirc.org/uploads/studledpare.pdf Spizen, B. (2012) Student Led Conferences. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-school/parent-involvement/studentled-conferences/ RUBRIC Variable Did you identify one clear issue (i.e. ebooks, grading, plagiarism, group grading, etc)? Did you include all of the parts as shown in the examples and the planning document? Were the guiding questions relevant to the issue and the context? Were the various sections of the case study complete? Did the background and introduction to Insufficient -0pts No Sufficient 1-4 pts Exemplary 5 pts Yes x No Most but not all Yes x No Most but not all Yes x No Most but not all Yes x though we could have thrown in a few more references if we had had a little more time. Yes x No Comments 8 Student Led Conferences the problem set the stage for the guiding questions? 25/25
