A reflective parent.
During the meet and greet session after the Graduation I come across a parent who had something to share. He explained how his children has been in this school and explained his thoughts of it. He further shared what he though is good practice.
The parent started narrating to me how his children have passed through this school. How he was very skeptic about the IB when it started. He explained how his friends removed their children from the school. He narrated how they urged him to follow suit or have challenging experience in the future. The parent thought otherwise.
He refused to listen to all the remarks and vowed to give it a try. He explained in detail how he read more to get to understand the program. Furthermore he explained how he attended all the presentations which were being offered then. He even travelled overseas to meet an elder brother who did IB back in 1980's. To me this was a determined parent and from his face he was glowing with joy.
He descriptively explained the transformation he has seen in his graduating child. What I was gathering from his descriptors was the IB learner profile laced with the AK strands. The parent was as happy as he gave the details and he flashed back how he went through difficult times in his schooling despite which he managed a place in the Royal collage (now the University of Nairobi). He made a comparison of when he graduated and his son's graduation. He said he saw a transformed child a child ready to face the future.
He saw a lot of potential in the school in terms of facilities and the software (pedagogy and curriculum). He attributed all this to the team spirit of the Student, Parent, and Teacher triad. As a professional he reiterated how he saw this curriculum appropriate and with potential to meet the demand of the future. He also expressed his interest to be invited in the career week to give a lecture. As part of this team I was very proud of the thoughts of this parent. The parent has an MYP child and also expresses the same hope for the development of the student.
As the parent narrated all this I was thinking of the effort we put in our work. I felt that it paid of and there is need to continue with the effort despite the challenges we may be facing. Stakeholder plays a very imperative role in our profession. If parents are able to make meaning of our efforts, they are bound to give up support as we support their children in their learning. This reflection made my weekend and it reminded me of the importance of my role as a facilitator to the learning of the students. I am proud of being part of the team.
Gioko, A
