Please respond to the discussion response below:
International schools today are making efforts to involve parents and community members in more significant ways, similar to what is mentioned in the book (Ferguson, 2001). Both Ruamrudee International School (RIS) and American School of Dubai (ASD) lead weekly coffee talks in which there would be a topic and parents, and an expert would meet in order to have collaborative discussions and dialogue about solutions. Sometimes these topics are curricular and other times they are behavioral or social/emotional. It would be a stretch to suggest either of these schools have involved parents the way that the book suggests.
Both ASD and RIS required recent curriculum revamps. The curriculum review process at ASD was a two-year process, involving countless hours both during school hours and many after. While some on the committee were parents at the school as well as teachers, the review was completed primarily by curriculum and content area specialists. The school also brought in outside consultants in order to assist with the lengthy process. The outside parent community was barely involved.
At Ruamrudee, the 8th-grade Humanities curriculum is currently under review. Aside from the parents that are teachers, there is little to no involvement with the greater parent community. The administration did recently hold a Coffee Talk where they reviewed the proposed changes to the 8th-grade curriculum, but they did not ask for parents’ input. It is interesting, the parent community at RIS is more hands-off than other private schools. It would be hard to imagine parents involved in that manner at this school. Some of that is cultural, as Thais revere teachers and they are looked at as highly trained experts. This would be an interesting experiment, in any case.
Ferguson, D. L. (2001). Designing Personalized Learning for Every Student. Alexandria, Va: ASCD. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.trident.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=157879&site=ehost-live
