Empowering Parents through Social-Emotional Learning: A Case Study of MindHaven School's Parent Education Program

Abstract

Transforming parental engagement into parental empowerment is essential for systemic transformation in school programs (Winthrop, 2020). MindHaven School, with a 30-year legacy of promoting parent empowerment, has effectively turned challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, into opportunities to advance its mission. Through its "Every Home a School, Every Parent a Teacher" Learning Model, MindHaven's Parent Education Program (PEP) has emerged as a crucial initiative. During the pandemic, parents transitioned from supporters to direct implementers of their children’s education, attending 25-35 two-hour virtual training sessions per school year, compared to the previous 15-25 face-to-face sessions. These PEP sessions have been vital in addressing learning gaps, maintaining academic progress, and mitigating socio-emotional challenges of distance learning. This ethnographic study documents how intensified Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) during PEP sessions empowered parents, reflected in interactions between learners, learners and teachers, learners and parents, spouses, parents and teachers, parents of different learners, and parents and the community. The study found that empowered parents benefit not only learners but the entire school community, especially during the transition from distance learning to face-to-face classes. The effects of parent empowerment through PEP sessions are categorized as follows: a) parents creating and maintaining meaningful, trusting, and productive relationships with school staff, b) parents supporting each other to keep all children engaged in school, c) learners inspired by their empowered parents to help fellow learners address socio-emotional issues, and d) replication, scaling up, and community applications of MindHaven School’s Parent Empowerment Program.