Introduction
I am working for an early childhood center as a Parent Involvement Coordinator. My role as a Parent Involvement Coordinator is to provide workshops and training to the parents from the center. The population that we serve is mainly from low income families from different age, racial, and education backgrounds. The programs that we offer include Early Head Start and Head Start programs. Each family needs to be eligible in order to receive services from our program. Eligibility is based on income; other criteria’s may include disabilities. My goal is to motivate families to get involved in their children's education, and to find resources in the community to improve their life style or situation that they might be facing at the moment. The problem with teaching/offering workshops to ESL and English speaking individuals is the age difference. The majority of the parents/caregivers are from generation Y (those between 18 to 30 years old) and the rest of the parents are from generation X (those between 30 to 42 years old). There is a minority of baby boomers who are grandparents raising grandchildren.
The problem
I want to increase the participation of Generation Y, Generation X, and baby boomers in my workshops. My goal is to improve my program's performance and increase the participation of parents/caregivers. The participation of Generation Y has been very limited during the training/workshops provided by the early childhood programs at my center. The workshops offered are topics requested by the parents. Majority of the topics we discuss are related to child development issues, personal, and professional growth. According to the Administration of Children and Families (2006), “the expected outcomes for children and families include strengthening parents as the primary nurturers of the children, enhance parent-child relationships, and enhance children's growth and development." In order to meet these outcomes, EHS and HS programs are providing constant training and workshops to the parent/caregivers. The center receives funding to provide child development workshops, parenting classes, and other interests from the parents. Early Head Start and Head Start personnel are responsible to reach all of the generations who are caring for infants and young children. As a parent educator, I am responsible to present and bring workshops and training to the parents. I want to find out what considerations my center should take to increase the participation of Generation Y. Generation Y is the generation that has been showing a lack of participation in my center. Generation X and baby boomers tend to participate more than Generation Y.
Proposed Solution
My research questions were: Why is it difficult to teach adults? What considerations should I take to engage Generation Y in learning? What considerations should I take in order to present information to Generation X? What can I do with the environment in the room to engage all generations during a workshop or training? My results showed that we need to consider the learning characteristics and learning preferences that each of the main groups have. The main groups of generation learners in my program are Generation X and Generation Y. Generation Y or Net Geners are a majority of technology savvy individuals, and show interest in multimedia (Berk A. 2009). The presentations of the trainings / workshops need to include more hands-on activities and discussion to promote team work and collaboration. Finally, I would like to use other approaches to reach these families. Some families have been expressing interest in receiving reminders of meetings by text rather than flyers. Most of the Generation Y parents had been expressing problems with the schedule of trainings/workshops.
Working with adults is not an easy job; we might find parents from different generations and learning styles. Parents are required to participate actively during parenting skills workshops and trainings. The family in general as well as the center would benefit if there is active participation from the parents. Generation Y is a group of learners who uses technology every day. We have been promoting parenting workshops via flyers and reminders from the staff. It is necessary to change the way we communicate with families.
Synthesis
My proposal is to start using social media, and text messages to remind families about the workshops. This kind of reminders can be added to the flyers and verbal information from the staff. Several parents had been requesting reminds this way, implementing their suggestion and getting the information from my research can increase the number of participants per workshop / training. The format in which the trainings have been developed is to have a speaker present the information to the parents, giving them time to ask questions at the end of the workshop. I would like to include more hands-on activities where the participants can learn while observing, and doing activities to solve problems. Using this method of hands-on activities can increase the participation with more hands-on learners. Parents will have the opportunity to talk about specific problems and we will encourage discussion to find the possible solutions with the group’s input. Depending on the topic and the number of participants the group can be divided to promote small group activities, and to promote teamwork and collaboration. This kind modification can open social interaction with others and give a feeling of inclusion.
Finally, to conclude my proposal I would like to visually stimulate learners using multimedia for those visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. We can do it by including videos and slide presentations where the participants can view it during their free time. Parents would have the flexibility to use a computer at the center after they drop off their child or before they pick up their child. They would be requested to take a quick quiz after the presentation to prove they took the workshops. The result of the quiz can be used to prove the parents’ gained knowledge from the workshop. The benefits of the videos and slide show presentation is to increase parents participation, this is great for both the families and center.
Next Steps
I need to review the EHS and HS policies to find out if it is possible to include social media and usage of text to remind families about activities. If the agency agrees to use multimedia to present some workshops, they must find a person who can implement those changes, and request ahead of time the information to those outside speakers / presenters. The organization need to find at least one or two computers that would be available to those parents interest in taking the trainings / workshops using technology. The agency should conduct a survey to find out the reactions from the parents. There must be an instructor or presenter responsible to teach information, literacy, and critical thinking skills if necessary to those parents who will be taking the training / workshop at the lab station.
Literature Review
Berk A. (2009) stated in his article “Teaching the strategies for the Net Generation,” that according to one survey, students in U.S. showed the following characteristics: 97 % own a computer, 94 % own a cell phone, 76 % use instant messages, and 75 % have a Facebook account. Weiler (2004) states that Generation Y are primarily visual learners, and multimedia presentation contains some form of animation or media. We could include video, animation, sound, and navigation structure to reach all type of learners. The new proposal includes the use of more workshops promoting discussion topics where the students can actively engage in topics by having the opportunity to ask and give opinions. According to Roehling, Vander, Dykema, Quisenberry, & Vandlen (2012) discussions provide variety and allow students to voice and develop their opinion in an equal setting. To conclude my proposal I would like to include a statement from McCrindle (2003) related to Generation Y “The traditional talk and chalk won’t work with this generation. Our communication style is structured, yet they want freedom. We stress learning, they like experiencing. We react, they relate. We focus on the individual, while they are socially driven."
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