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SHARED LEADERSHIP:Parents as Partners

Presented by the Partnership for Family Success Training & TA CenterJanuary 14, 2009

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Experiences with Parent Leadership

• Work in small groups• Discuss 3 positive &

3 negative experiences you have had to date in seeking to recruit and work with families as leaders

• Capture on flip chart

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Who is a parent leader?

• Committed to making positive changes in his/her family, community, &/or system

• Represents a parent voice, not a staff role

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Shared leadership is important because:

• Multiple perspectives & diverse strengths and talents are combined to achieve goals

• Families know how systems really work “on the ground”

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We learn leadership in many ways

• Learn from others who serve as role models

• Learn from formal training

• “Just do it”

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Practices of Exemplary Leadership

I. Challenging the processII. Inspiring a shared visionIII. Enabling others to actIV. Modeling the WayV. Encouraging the heart

In pairs, answer “I acted this way when I…”

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Pathways to Parent Leadership

• Critical supports:– Contact with other

parents in leadership roles

– Opportunities to take on leadership roles, however small, & safe settings to practice them

– Relationship with respected & trusted person who provides feedback & support

– Sense of belonging

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Ten Steps to Success

1. Commitment leading to participation, growth & change

2. A sense of belonging3. Exposure to other parents who

demonstrate leadership behaviors & are acknowledged as leaders

4. Recognition of the need to take action5. Encouragement from others who view

the parent as a leader

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Ten Steps to Success

6. Taking action7. Receiving positive feedback & support

from trusted others who “mirror back” the strengths & leadership skills displayed in earlier actions

8. Continuing to take action & receive supportive feedback

9. Growing stronger & more confident as a leader

10.Becoming a role model for other parents

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Parent Stories

• Be thinking about:– How was this

parent engaged? At what level(s)?

– What was the impact of their engagement on their family? On other families? On the program?

– How does this relate to family support standards?

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Working together in shared leadership

• Think of a time when you had a successful partnership to accomplish your goals…

– What did you bring to the partnership?– What did your partner bring?– How did you know it was working?

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Barriers to Shared Leadership:Program level

• Identify three barriers to shared leadership at the program level

– Family participation in identification of needs

– Family participation in identification and development of services

– Family participation in evaluation of program services and activities

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Why families matter in developing shared leadership

• Divide into small groups• Some groups are parents, some are

professionals• Instructions for professionals:

– Develop and plan for the implementation of a program: when, where, who it targets, services it offers, etc. Recorder & reporter

• Instructions for parents:– Discuss needs in your community. List on

flip chart the top 10 services that families in your community need. Recorder & reporter

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Why families matter in developing shared leadership

• Each parent group joins a professional group. Together, revise your program based on a shared leadership model.

• What does your program look like now? How does it differ from the original program, if at all?

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Family Centered Standards

• Outreach/Engaging families• Programs/Activities• Parent education and development• Working one on one with families• Relationship with community• Center environment• Staff roles & capacities

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Outreach/Engaging Families

• #3. Outreach materials have current information, are easy to understand & at appropriate literacy levels, reflect community cultures & languages, have information on community partners with appropriate referral information, & have been developed in partnership with families at every step.

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Programs/Activities

• #3. Families are encouraged to participate & contribute to the program by conducting outreach to other families, participating in peer mentoring & advocating for & advising other families, publicizing DR services, & requesting new activities/ services through surveys & other feedback opportunities.

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Parent Education & Development

• #3. DR services meet the needs of parents living in the area served by the DR, serve families with children birth to 21, familiarize themselves with the provision of early childhood, education, health & human services in those areas, help parents participate in systems change activities, use adult learning techniques, & are developed, implemented & evaluated with the active participation of diverse families

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Working one-on-one with families

• #4. Staff & families jointly identify family’s goals, strengths, & needs for child(ren) & family, provide needed services, & provide & connect to appropriate referrals for other concerns

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Relationship with community

• #2. DR works to promote comprehensive & accessible services for families by ensuring that current resource & referral information is available, updating resource & referral information as often as needed, participating in collaborative planning bodies, advocating with families for policy changes that promote better services for families, & encourage & support families to communicate effectively & work collaboratively with personnel responsible for providing services to children and families, policymakers, & others

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Center Environment

• #7. Families using specific services are encouraged to participate in other center activities.

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Staff Roles & Capacities

• #8. Staff provide an empowering environment so parents can take the lead in making decisions.

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Planning for Shared Leadership

• Do I really want to work in a shared leadership model?

• Will my supervisor support me?

• What policies and practices will be a problem?

• What are the resources & help that I need?

• Do I have access to the resources & help I need?

• How does this fit my approach to working with parents now?

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Action Planning for Shared Leadership

• Steps of Action Planning

– Reaching out to parents to participate in the Action Planning process

– Conduct the organizational self assessment with parent participation

– Prioritize areas of needed improvement

– Develop a plan, in partnership with families, to address prioritized needs