As most parents know by now, distance learning is not easy. There are technological challenges, time constraints, and more difficulties than there should be when it comes to helping students learn the material. But one upside to this new virtual classroom is the active role many parents are choosing to play in their students’ education.
This can be bothersome for teachers, who not only have to manage an online classroom, but also have to field questions from parents during live video classes and avoid distractions caused by family members in the background. One solution that schools have pursued is called Zoom etiquette: a new list of do’s and don’ts aimed to help families navigate distance learning in a respectful manner. Parents should be involved, according to educators, but not to the point of disruption.
Some teachers, however, don’t want parents in the virtual classroom at all — not because parents can’t behave appropriately, but because they might take issue with the material being taught. A Philadelphia public school teacher put it this way: “I am most intrigued by the damage that ‘helicopter/snowplow’ parents can do in honest conversations about gender/sexuality,” said Matthew Kay, an English teacher at the Science Leadership Academy. “And while ‘conservative’ parents are my chief concern, I know that the damage can come from the Left too. If we are engaged in messy work of destabilizing a kids [sic] racism or homophobia or transphobia — how much do we want their classmates’ parents piling on?”
The fact is that many parents do not know what their children are learning — especially if their students attend public schools. Remote learning has presented parents with an opportunity to change that. Parents now have direct access to the curriculum being taught and the way it is being presented, so they can more adequately determine whether it’s a good fit for their students.
But there does need to be a balance, according to educators. Students must be allowed to struggle on their own without immediately being assisted, and they must be allowed to think for themselves without expecting their mother or father to step in and do it for them. But like most things, that’s easier said than done.
