Family

What is family-centered practice? Family-centered practice refers to the educational perspective whereby teachers work with families of various students to ensure that high academic standards are achieved. In other words, it refers to the scenario where the school administration honors the principles of students regarding their culture, values, and beliefs.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Family-Centered Practice in Australian Education specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Family-centered practice is a common educational approach in the Australian society because it strengthens ties between parents and children (Foreman, 2009). For instance, the school administration would honor the wishes of the family by incorporating religious values into the main curriculum. Educational scholars observe that family-centered practice entails three major components. One of the components is focusing on the strengths of the school c urriculum. The second component talks about promoting the wishes and desires of families using the available resources. The third component pertains to establishing a working formula between educational professionals and parents. Why engage in family-centered Practice? Recently, scholars have noted through research that professionals should work with parents in order to achieve high academic results and discipline among children. As Rosenbaum, King, Law, King, and Evans (1998), the family-centered practice should be viewed as both a philosopher and as a technique of delivering educational services. Dunst (2002) was of the view that both the family and the school have the role to play as far as socialization of the child is concerned. The family needs to suggest some of the ways that could help in controlling the behavior of children. The school has the responsibility to ensure that the wishes of the family are met. To label or not to label Labeling is an issue that affected the admi nistering of core services in schools. Children with disabilities face the problem labeling. However, school administrations should come up with measures that would ensure labeling does not take place. Labeling affects the performance of disabled children. This is because it lowers their morale. However, the school administration should provide important learning materials to the disabled (Pogorzelski, Wheldall, 2005).Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More What is an Individual Family Service Plan? The two plans play an important role in the life of a child. Individual family service plans supplements family-centered programs in schools. In fact, IFSP is critical when it comes to early childhood education. In each institution of learning, IFSP plans are encouraged because they enhance quality (Cook, Klein, Tessier, 2008). In most regions, the plans are implemented through provision of fun ding to various educational programs. Individual family service plans have a number of aims and objectives intended to improve cooperation between parents and teachers. Through the plans, professionals and parents are able to come together and make critical decisions regarding formal and informal utilization of resources to achieve high academic standards for students. Through the plans, Trelor (1997) suggested that parents would be in a better position to provide critical information to teachers to be used in guiding students through the curriculum. The role of the teacher would be to assess the educational needs of children. Through the plans, teachers would ensure that the priorities of parents regarding their children are implemented. Each family would wish its member to excel academically. In this regard, the family would take an initiative of consulting various professionals in order to solve the problems facing children. This implies that the professional should consider the fact that the parent would have consulted other experts before reporting the matter to the school authorities. From perspective therefore, the professional should try to understand the parent from his or her perspective. This implies that the professional should empathize with the parent and try as much as possible to address his or her children’s problems. A number of stages are to be followed when addressing the issue raised by the parent. The first step would be to inform the parent that an assessment would be undertaken to determine the academic ability of the child. The professional should then go ahead to evaluate the educational capability of the child. This would entail assessing the current skills of the child and determining the deficiencies. After identifying weak areas, the professional should not proceed to equip the child with knowledge without consulting the parent. The professional should discuss the weaknesses of the child with the family. Through discussion, the professional would learn the priorities and the expectations of the family. The parent should be made to understand that resources play an important role in improving the performance of the child.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Family-Centered Practice in Australian Education specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, the parent should be willing to avail adequate resources. Another important stage would be developing goals that must be met at the end. The parent should be involved in setting the goals. The goals must be reasonable implying that they must be implemented. The final stage would entail evaluating the performance of the child to determine whether the goals were met (Allen, Cowdery, 2005). What is assessment in early childhood in respect to disability? Assessment is a variable that has been defined variously by different scholars. One group of scholars defines it as the act of judging the cha racter of a child. Others define assessment as the process of classifying events, actions, or individuals based on value (McDevitt, Ormrod, 2007). A different definition has emerged recently, which views the assessment process as the act of evaluating damages. The assessor would be in a position to calculate the cost of repairs after determining the damages. The same definition could be applied in a school setting to determine the performance of students. Teachers and other educational experts engage in constant research to identify the major causes of poor performance among students. From the findings of their studies, experts would then formulate policies aimed at solving the problems. Through assessment, educational experts would access critical information needed in resolving issues affecting children with disabilities. Assessment offers to decision makers as regards to disabilities in institutions of high learning. In the end, assessment would lead to improved service delivery among children with disabilities. Stroeve (1998) offered a clear definition of the term assessment. The above scholars noted that assessment entails a systematic compilation and evaluation of information, which would aide in making informed decisions. From the above definition, it is clear that assessment process is important as far as disabilities are concerned. Wheldhall (1994) postulated that assessment is meant to increase the competencies of the child through improved understanding of utilization of resources. When conducting an assessment, an expert should consider whether to involve other specialists. Furthermore, the expert must make a decision in advance on whether to consult the family. Some children would react when they realize that an assessment is being conducted on them. In this case, the expert must develop some strategies that would help him or her counter the negative reaction.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More What helped us through? The family is the primary socializing agent. Children tend to associate well with members of the family and they would be willing to share their problems with them (Ho, 2004). However, the child realizes that he or she must cope with the outside world when he or she starts attending school. The first experience is very difficult, as illustrated in the story of Tim. Tim went through many challenges, as expected of any child of his age. Children find it hard to cope with friends. Psychoanalytic scholars of psychology termed this stage as latency stage where children are expected to learn things without much guidance. Each child must have an initiative to learn things around him or her (Davis, Day, Bidmead, 2002). The main task that confronts each child is the development of industrious character. In fact, each child must keep off from excessive sense of inferiority. Each child receives specific skills that would help him or her master some concepts. Children a re made to believe that they are no longer babies. In this regard, they must learn to associate with others. If a child does not form relationships with members of his or her age group, a malignant tendency referred to as inferiority complex might develop. Children who relate too easily with others would as well suffer from a maladaptive tendency referred to as narrow virtuosity. Therefore, it is the role of each caregiver to ensure that children negotiate a balance between narrow virtuosity and inferiority complex (Haddon, 2003). If this were done in a proper way, a child would develop a psychosocial strength referred to as purpose, which refers to a sense of responsibility References Allen, K. E., Cowdery, G. E. (2005). The exceptional child: Inclusion in early childhood education (5th ed.). NY: Thomson Delmar Learning Cook, R.E., Klein, M.D., Tessier, A. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special needs (7th ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/ Prentice Hall. Davis, H., Day, C., Bidmead, C. (2002). Working in partnership with parents: The parent adviser model. London: Harcourt Assessment. Dunst, C. J. (2002). Family-centered practices: Birth through high school. Journal of Special Education, 36(3), 139. Foreman, P. (2009). Education of students with an intellectual disability: research and practice. Charlotte NC, USA: Information Age Publishing. Haddon, M. (2003). The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime. New York: Random House. Ho, A. (2004). To be labeled, or not to be labeled: that is the question. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 32(1), 86-92 McDevitt, T. M., Ormrod, J. E. (2007). Child development and education. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Pogorzelski, S., Wheldall, K. (2005). The importance of phonological processing skills for older low-progress readers. Educational Psychology in Practice, 2(1), 1–2 Rosenbaum, P., King, S., Law, M., King, G., Evans, J. (1998). Family-centered servi ce: A conceptual framework and research review. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 18(1), 1-20. Stroeve, W. (1998). One of the kids. Sydney: Disability Council of NSW. Trelor, R. (1997). Recommended Practices In Family–Centered Early Childhood Intervention Sydney NSW: NSW Department of Aging Disability and Homecare/Early Childhood Intervention Coordination Program/Early Childhood Intervention Australia. Wheldhall, K. (1994). Why do contemporary special educators favor a non-categorical approach to teaching? Special Education Perspectives, 3(1), 45-47 This essay on Family-Centered Practice in Australian Education was written and submitted by user Ashlyn Douglas to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.