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In this episode, we talk with Christina Hideck about the transformative potential of parent involvement in schools. Christina is a former attorney, now working as a professional organizer who is passionate about parent-teacher relationships. She’s the author of The Principal’s Parent Group Playbook, which offers practical tips and strategies for any PTO to implement.
Christina discusses the importance of recognizing parents as an under-leveraged pillar in school communities, the need for collaborative strategic planning between parent groups and school stakeholders, and the significance of institutional knowledge sharing to support effective school-parent (guardian) partnerships. The Big Dream Christina envisions a world where every school boasts a healthy and functional parent group. She believes that when parent groups operate effectively, the potential for creating a positive impact on the school environment is limitless. Mindset Shifts Required The conversation debunks two big myths around parent (guardian) involvement in the school. First, involvement doesn't equate to a never-ending commitment, and there isn’t an expectation to know anything before getting started. On the teacher-administrator side, it’s important to recognize that parents are coming in with very little experience in running a healthy and efficient school parent group, so they need support. Both parents and school stakeholders need to overcome misconceptions and stereotypes about parent-teacher organizations (PTOs) and recognize each other's roles and potential to work collaboratively. Action Steps To begin cultivating a thriving partnership between school stakeholders and family members, Christina emphasizes these high-leverage action steps to take: Step 1: Start with common or shared goal setting. What does the school really want to do? What parents are already excited about making that happen? What are parents hoping to accomplish? Getting on the same page about the shared goals can help set everyone up for success. Step 2: For school employees, identify areas where parental support could significantly enhance school goals and open these opportunities to families. Then, be open to how family members want to be involved, let them take action on what’s important, and communicate transparently with families about school goals, values, and opportunities. Step 3: Access resources through your PTA (a parent-teacher association, which, unlike PTOs, a PTA has more resources through the credentialing body) or Christina’s PTO Answers. Step 4: Cultivate empathy and understanding. Teachers and educators need to understand that family members don’t know how schools operate today; they are only able to reference what they did in school decades ago. Teachers can come alongside family members to help them understand how things operate now. Challenges? A significant challenge is to dismantle outdated perceptions of PTOs as merely event planners. School leaders and parents must work together to ensure that parent groups are seen as vital partners in the educational process. One Step to Get Started For parents, reflect on how you can actively participate in your child’s school, whether that’s volunteering in class, bringing in theatre projects, or something else you’re passionate about. Getting involved exists on a wide spectrum of time, effort, and energy, and you can consider what’s best for your situation. For educators and school leaders, reach out to a parent during open house events and start a conversation about how they can assist with specific school initiatives. Stay Connected You can find this week’s guest on their website, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn To help you implement today’s takeaways, our guest is sharing the PTO Family Engagement Opportunity Assessment with you for free. And, if you’re looking for more details on the ideas in this blog post, listen to episode 262 of the Time for Teachership podcast. If you’re unable to listen or you prefer to read the full episode, you can find the transcript below. Quotes:
If you enjoyed this episode, check out my YouTube channel where you can learn about more tips and resources like this one below:
TRANSCRIPT
Lindsay Lyons: Christina Hydock, welcome to the Time for Teachership podcast. Christina Hidek: Oh, Lindsay, I am so excited for our conversation today. Lindsay Lyons: Me too, and I, I have been thinking a lot. I know you said before we hit record, you know, I'm really interested in, like, the expansion of my understanding of shared leadership to encompass families as well as, like, the typical students that I'm talking about. So really excited about that family school partnership dynamic. That's what's on my mind today. But wondering anything that's on your mind that you want people to kind of keep in mind throughout the episode. Christina Hidek: I think that including parents is just really important, and it is often an overlooked, under-leveraged kind of third pillar of, like, the adult, adults in the room for schools, right? You have the school leaders, you have the teachers. And when I say teachers, I mean staff and, like, e- e- everyone, right? So that's just, like, shorthand for everyone who's not an administrator, I guess. And, um, so yeah, just the ... It's just they're under-leveraged, and I would love to ... Under-leveraged, under-recognized, overlooked, and under-celebrated. Lindsay Lyons: A lot of potential there. Yes, Christina Hidek: there is so much po- so, like, that was a lot of negativity, but I guess I would also love for people who maybe have not had the best experience with a parent group in the past, maybe this is your chance to, like, reset and reframe and think about that was that. Because the, the biggest thing is that parent groups, they change from year to year, which is awesome, but very frustrating. And so you have really a new opportunity. Just like when you have a new set of kids in your classroom, you have the opportunity to kind of reset things. It's the same with the parents. Lindsay Lyons: It segues nicely into this first question I usually ask around freedom dreaming. So Dr. Bettina Love describes dream, uh, freedom dreaming as dreams grounded in the critique of injustice. And so I am hearing a lot of injustice in, like, what you were describing, right? Is there's, there's this potential for family partnerships with school stakeholders, and we're not, we're not doing it. We're actually excluding a lot of families in our current system. So can you actually, like, reformulate that into, like, your dream? Like, what, what is the dream there? Christina Hidek: I would love for every school to have a healthy and functional parent group. In my own kids' schools and have seen what the parent groups who are f- not always been 100% healthy or productive or functional. Like, there are still, there's amazing things that can get done even there. So imagine if, one, everyone had a parent group, a, and then if they were, like, functional and healthy. Like, my mind just can't even handle the awesomeness of the potential Lindsay Lyons: What are some of the mindset shifts that either family members or school stakeholders, leaders, teachers, sh- should kind of go through to be able to make that dream a reality? I think there's a lot of probably misconceptions or kind of old ways of thinking of how traditionally we've done things. Like, what's the shift there mindset-wise? Christina Hidek: All right. So for parents and guardians, right? So parents is shorthand for anybody who is responsible for a child in school. That's... I try to be really inclusive, but I use- It's important shorthand. So for parents, just know that you're being involved doesn't mean jumping through and into a black hole of never-ending commitments. So that's one, because I think so many people have the perception of school parent groups and being involved in school has been shaped by what they see. What do we see in, like, popular culture? Parent groups really are never positively represented. Normally, you see very dysfunctional groups where there's a power struggle over, by the parents, either internally or with the school about something that is of zero consequence. For example, the theme for the carnival. It's so reductive that that's what we care about, that, that, at p- as parents, we really are really willing to fight tooth and nail over a jungle theme or a Paris theme for a party, you know? Like, so one is parents know that you're not necessarily gonna get sucked into the black hole, that your involvement does matter in ways that you don't even realize how much it's gonna matter in, kinda, till after the fact. And that is one of the reasons why I've been involved for so long and in such kind of high-profile ways, that it was really, even though it was a lot of work, the payoff was there for me personally and also for my children. Um, so it wasn't completely altruistic in me giving back. I totally am getting something back. And the other thing is that parents, you don't need to know anything in order to get involved. No one is expecting you to have all the answers, and you can say, "I don't know." And so on the flip side, for everybody who is employed by the school, uh, know that parents are coming in with probably very little experience for running a healthy and efficient school parent group. Like, there is no PTO school. It's kind of the same with, like, the principals, school leaders, and teachers. There's no PTO school for them either. So they don't really know- The possibilities, if you have a really good experience, then great. Then, then that's kind of like your framework. But if you have a negative experience, then I think that's really gonna stunt the possibilities of what could be for you because that's your reality, and you don't know maybe how it should be. Lindsay Lyons: In terms of how we actually cultivate a thriving partnership between school stakeholders or people employed by the school, I like that phrasing, um, and, you know, family members, so parents, guardians, caretakers. Yeah. And I imagine there's a lot of pieces, and I've seen your website, there are a lot of pieces 'cause you have a lot of pieces in your blog posts- No, that's okay and things, which is great. I'm wondering about kind of some high-leverage practices or actions that PTO members or even families in general trying to get involved in PTOs could take. Like, what's the action on the family side, and then are there any actions that school administrators or teachers or staff could take to partner better with an existing PTO? Christina Hidek: Sure. I, I think it really comes down to common or shared goal setting because there are definitely some things that the school wants to make happen that's on their big wish list, but maybe they don't have time to make it happen. Well, then you maybe have some really motivated parents who are like, "We're here. Just point us in the right direction. We don't wanna s- step on your toes." 'Cause not every parent who wants to get involved has an agenda beyond wanting to improve the school parent group. Lindsay Lyons: I'm thinking about the, when you talked about the w- what I would think of as, like, the strategic plan or, like, um, kind of those big goals that, that stake- stakeholders in the schools have to set as part of just what they do as a leader, right? It's usually every five years, for example, districts have a, a strategic plan or schools have a strategic plan. And there's all these things that are tied to academic outcomes, to social-emotional outcomes of students, like, all these important things. And to contrast to your earlier example of, like, the carnival theme there's meat to some of this work already being done that I see as really powerful to kind of t- tap the PTO or partner with the PTO on existing structures and plans as opposed to having them completely separate. Christina Hidek: In my own groups, because I have been a leader, it's very much been shared when the school leaders have been open to it because not every school leader understands, like, the kind of deal. And I always, I have this little joke and I always say, "Oh, I gotta break in a new principal, kind of show them the ways of how we do things here." I'm very open to being collaborative. I want to support the school leader and the teachers. My mom is a retired teacher, so that's my background. I, I know the challenges. Not all of them, but a good, good amount. I, uh, have a very large, um, Facebook group, and th- one member recently posted, she's like, "Our- we're not working at all with our school. Like, th- we- I don't even know what we should be doing because it, they're taking care of everything." And I was like, "Well, reach out to that principal and get on their calendar and figure out where you can support them." There is space for you. You don't have to do identical things, but there's so much overlap, and so to have things separated is making things so much harder on both groups. There are some really fantastic synergistic benefits of coming together. So like you talk about the strategic plan, I, my district has done it I think three times now, and I was involved with two out of the three this last time. My kids are almost done, and I was like, it is time for other people to step up and have their opinions kind of come in because I've had my time. But I found the process to be so beneficial and helped me understand more of what the school's plans were and how they were approaching issues. And then I'm like, oh, uh, we need to change things. 'Cause in my district there was, the first strategic plan, there was a big emphasis, and this was just me because the person in the room was the loudest, talking about the need for discipline and that things were running amok. And I'm like, I, I don't ... That's not my experience of, uh, seeing what's going on in our buildings. But that she really wanted that stressed in that strategic plan. But it was kind of old school thinking of- Lindsay Lyons: Been there as a coach in those conversations. You're like, "Let's pivot. We're unearthing-" "... root causes here that we might need to get into." Yeah. But I, I love that you were part of the strategic plan for two out of those three, and I'm curious, were you in the room with the strategic planning committee? Were there multiple, uh, family representatives- Yeah ... and then you kind of came back to the PTO? Was it actually a topic on a PTO agenda somewhere? Like how, how does it li- where does it live? Christina Hidek: For me, the first two times we were actually in the room where the decisions were happening, and the first time, uh, I think we were led by outside consultants. There were multiple PTO leaders who were there. And then the second time, they didn't approach the strategic plan in the same way, and so we immediately broke into committees. I think they may have given us a choice about what committee we could go to. Um, but we were there crafting the individual objectives and laying it out, and then able to give feedback, 'cause there were some things that we were like, "Oh, this is something the PTO can, like, totally help with." Like, "Did you know?" And they were like, "Really?" And I'm like, "Y- yeah." My recollection is that it was only the, on the PTO agenda as far as an opportunity to get involved, but not something we were separately tracking, 'cause the people who were volunteering were very much in the thick of things. So they were ... Like, I think the second time that I was on the, the participate in the strategic planning process, I was a leader in multiple buildings, so multiple PTA units. So Lindsay Lyons: that makes sense that your representative kind of brought things back, brought opportunities back, and then it could become an agenda item. It sounds like that's, that's awesome. Um, I'm also thinking back to when you o- originally started answering this question, thinking about the skills and also resources and kind of institutional knowledge that people employed by the school have that easily could support the PTO, but often the PTO doesn't have access to or the training on. Have you been part of any sort of, like, skill building or resource allocation or resource building, institutional knowledge sharing that was helpful? And how might leaders in schools learn from that? Christina Hidek: Well, yes, that's why I started my company. So I've totally built out resources because I saw that. Do you know the difference between a PTA and a PTO? Lindsay Lyons: Yeah, but I only learned that from listening to you on another podcast. So can you share- Okay. ... with our audience? Christina Hidek: So it's like, okay, good. I wanna go over this just 'cause there's so many misconceptions. In the US, there are over 60,000 different PTOs. So PTOs are parent teacher organizations, but they don't That maybe that's not their name. They could maybe be a parent council, a homeschool association, a parent and teacher club, a parent c- council. Like, there's a gajillion different names. Mostly independent organizations. They are not part of a larger umbrella organization, unless they happen to be a PTA. So a PTA is a parent teacher association, which is affiliated with the state and national PTA. So those parent groups all funnel up into the national PTA. So they have some training, some guidance, some, um ... There are standards of affiliation that they have to meet every year, so kind of, like, they have to pay membership dues. They have to be, have in- insurance. They have to be up to date with filing their 990, you know, all the tax forms to stay compliant. Because by virtue of being a PTA, they, they kind of inherit their 501[3] nonprofit status from the parent organization of the state PTA. PTOs are independent. So all PTAs are PTOs, but not all PTOs are PTAs. So many people think that because you're a PTO, that you have access to resources, and that is false unless you are a PTA. And even if you are a PTA, you might not have everything you need. Because these are volunteer organizations, there is a shocking lack of infrastructure to ensure that the incoming leader or volunteer g- has the same access to the resources as the person before. There is not a mechanism for capturing all of the knowledge from the volunteer to, like, kind of download what's in their brain and put it in a format that someone new to the group can take on, which is super frustrating. And so that's kind of why, why I started PTO Answers, quite honestly, 'cause I thought, "It shouldn't be this hard." I personally was frustrated. I wrote a book last year, which is bananas pants, 'cause I never thought I would write a book. So it's the, um, Principal's Parent Group Playbook, and it tells you everything that, uh It's basically PTO school in a book for school leaders on what to kind of expect from a PTO or PTA, what their role is, how the PTO or PTA should kind of be set up, what they should be looking for in order to make sure that everything's on the right track, and then gives, like, a breakdown of, like, specifically what to do, uh, for an ent- entire calendar year so that you, you kind of know what, what to expect. Can you guess the last time a book about PTOs or PTAs was written? Exclusively about PTO or PTAs. Like, not, like, a one-line sentence reference in a family engagement book. 1920. There was a republishing in, uh, like, I think maybe six years ago, but it was from that 1920 or 1926 book. Lindsay Lyons: So in all of your writing and research and building all of this stuff, are there particular skills or institutional knowledge pieces that you have found to be critical, but, but often families don't have that coming in? Like, they haven't had the access, they haven't had the institutional knowledge, experience, or exposure. Like, w- can you share, like, one or two of those things just so leaders and teachers can be aware that this is something that they're gonna need to support? Christina Hidek: Parents don't understand how schools work. The last time they were probably in a school was when they were a student. Things have changed. Expectations have changed. Ways of teaching have changed. And that once you have kind of, not empathy, but just, like, a baseline understanding of that and going, "Oh, yeah, their perspective is from 20, 30 years ago. Now I get..." Like, you gotta have just a little- I guess it is empathy. Saying, you know, "This is where they're coming from," and, "Oh, I might need to have a little patience with them to kind of bring them up to speed of how we, how we do things here." Lindsay Lyons: There's a lot of communication required. So I'm thinking about, you know- Yeah ... leader communication, teacher communication. Whether it is through students, sending things home through students, but also just directly to families to say things like, "These are our goals. These are our school values. This is our bell schedule." That like, uh, all of the, the logistics, but also to invite family members into the school perhaps. Christina Hidek: Yes, yes. And it's, it's beyond, I think, the logistics, 'cause that's easy enough, I think, to communicate. But to, it's more of the way that we do things here, and the, the culture pieces. There was one school and a new principal came in, and she happens to be a micromanager. That school leader was not willing to trust or empower the parents to kind of do their own thing. And it's a shame because par- parent participation really has struggled at that school since she's been there. The high school PTA had a principal who didn't really care for the PTA, and he acted like we were just wasting his time, and he was just very difficult to work with. They brought in a new principal, and it was a totally different experience, and that was my first year of being the president at that PTA unit. And it was probably one of my most favorite years because the principal just said, "Let's, yeah." Like said yes to everything. Was like, "Let's do it." I was like, "Can seniors wanna have a lock-in for after prom?" He's like, "Sure." I was like, "W- wait, I'm sorry. You think that this is gonna be cool to have 250 kids overnight?" He goes, "You know what? We, we already did it earlier with the football team, so like, what's more kids?" And I was like, "Oh my God, I love you." So, and it wasn't just 'cause he said yes. It was because we would meet and talk about what was going on, but also we got to know each other personally. And, um, I would bring him treats. He was a really funny guy. I'm talking about him in the past tense 'cause unfortunately he did pass away, which was so traumatic for our school community. But I've had the experience of working with three different principals in that building, and boy, there are such differences. What's really important to know is that the, the parents are coming in. Maybe they don't have resources, and maybe you need to be the catalyst to get that because it can help with your own sanity. So even though the PTO, maybe they could find it, maybe you can like solve some of your own problems by going, "Here." Here, go, go to PTO Answer. She has got like, all these different blog posts so that it can help guide them so that they are in a position to then help you with your building goals or professional goals. Lindsay Lyons: I'm hearing a lot of feeling like you're not in it together is really frustrating when the ... you get that kind of vibe from the administrator. But it can be transformative maybe when the leader is actually in, in true partnership, willing to not just listen to what you're trying to say and, like, truly value your perspective, but also being willing to try something that might initially seem uncomfortable. Are there things you would add? Christina Hidek: Oh my gosh, but yeah, you don't have time for that, 'cause we'd be here for like, weeks. 'Cause I have a lot to say about that. 'Cause it's so ... It's more ... PTOs are more complex than it ... they appear on their face. Like, on the face it, it, of things, it looks like they're just party planners or event planners or fundraisers, but really their purpose goes far beyond that. And that's ... I- if you're just stopping there, if that's all you're getting to, where you're not truly including them as partners, then that's a missed opportunity for you. Lindsay Lyons: Really appreciate that perspective. Thank you for sharing that. As we move to close, we've talked about a lot of things. What is one thing that you would encourage perhaps a, a family member to do once they end the episode and/or, like, a, a leader or teacher, someone from the school employee side? Christina Hidek: As a parent, look at your school. Look at your child. What do you w- how do you wanna make their next school year more awesome? And w- what role can you play in that? Is it that you wanna volunteer in the classroom? Is it that you would like to bring theater in to, uh, to better support... I don't know. I have a friend who, her child is in, oh geez, fifth grade, and she helps work on the high school, like, set design and do- and does that, in addition to the other work she does for the PTA. Um, and then as the school employee side, what do you want that you need help with that you would be open to having help from the PTO with, or a parent? Doesn't even have to be the PTO. Let's, let's broaden it out. But there are ... And if you think there's no one to help, then, uh, we need to have some conversations with parents. W- make open house, that your goal, to find one parent to help you. You know, when I was writing my book, one of the things I, I discovered that what is now the STEM program at the high school was initially funded by the PTA, that a teacher asked for some money, the PTA was there to fund that. And, like, how awesome is that? Lindsay Lyons: That's super cool. I love that story. Thank you for sharing that. One of the questions I like to ask at the very end, just for fun, could be about what we're talking about, could be totally something else. What is something that you personally have been learning about lately? We love learning on this show. Christina Hidek: Ooh, I do love learning. I'm trying to think. I am an- I am, uh, I love to learn about things and nerd out about things. Um, I've read an entire book about olive oil. Okay, I can talk at length about olive oil because of this book. It, it was so knowledgeable. And you might think, "How does that impact you?" Well, I know how to buy a really good olive oil now and not spend a fortune. I will give you the, um, too long, didn't read version. Uh, Costco, their house brand, Kirkland Signature, actually is a very high quality olive oil that is not cut with fillers, because that is something we do. Apparently chocolate is more regulated in the United States than olive oil. I- Lindsay, it's, it's a whole thing. I highly recommend that book. I think it's called Extra Virginity. Every once in a while I make a list of things that I would like to learn, and then I'll, like, go look for it. For example, I want to get on stages to talk to principals and teachers at conferences, and I was like, "Well, I need to up my public speaking game, and I need to quit saying 'um' so much." So I Googled that, went onto YouTube, and this, the one video, his suggestion was just to close your mouth at the end of a sentence. I tried it. It works. Lindsay Lyons: I'm gonna borrow that now. Thank Christina Hidek: you. You can't say "um" if your mouth is closed, and I'm like, that is so, like, functionally simple. Lindsay Lyons: Thank you for sharing both your process and the things you're learning. I learned a lot from you. Finally, where can listeners and the audience members learn more about you? I know you mentioned ... We both mentioned you have a website. You mentioned you have a book. What are the places people can go to check that out? Christina Hidek: Yeah. So I- the primary resource where all the awesomeness can be found in, for my world is at PTOanswers.com. I have freebies, like, uh, for principals, I have a PTO family opportunity, family engagement opportunity assessment that helps you maybe re-approach your PTO to look at maybe where you're overlooking, uh, opportu- for potentials, I think, for to get more families engaged. For teachers, I have a freebie that covers five no- no-brainer ways to improve the teacher-parent group relationship. I've really framed it as a parent relationship, but it's how to get, like, it's everything the PTO or PTA wishes that teachers would understand. And then for parent volunteers, pick a role and there is some guidance for you. Like, if you were a room parent, president, treasurer, uh, because- Everyone is capable of serving in a PTO, no matter their background, no matter their experience or education level. Everyone should consider becoming involved just because of the benefits to you personally and your family and your community too. Lindsay Lyons: Awesome. Christina, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. Christina Hidek: Oh, it was such a fabulous time, and I loved our discussion, Lindsay
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AuthorLindsay Lyons is an educational justice coach who helps schools and districts co-create feminist, antiracist civics-based curricula, discussion opportunities, and equitable policies that challenge, affirm, and inspire all students. A former NYC public school teacher, she holds a PhD in Leadership and Change, and is the founder of the blog and podcast, Time for Teachership. Lindsay believes all students deserve literacy, criticality, and leadership skills. Archives
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