The hallmark of the training for HOME WORKS! The Teacher Home Visit Program is high engagement using a variety of instructional strategies that deepen participants’ understanding of the factors that lead to a successful teacher-home visit.
This training rests on the following instructional principals. Teachers, as learners, must:
- Experience high engagement to deepen understanding of new material.
- Develop effective communication strategies if they are to form meaningful relationships with parents.
- Acknowledge and confront assumptions and fears they have about parents and home visits.
- Respect the culture and dignity of all parents.
- Believe that parents are still their child’s first teachers and are valuable allies in their child’s education.
The training utilizes research-based adult education principles that connect the experiences and knowledge of teachers, their academic goals for children, and their own moral purpose in becoming a teacher. Trainers use small-group interaction, whole group instruction, cooperative learning strategies, opportunities for reflection through journaling and reading, video and direction instruction. This instructional model facilitates teachers developing the skills, awareness and attitudes needed to conduct a successful visit.
Once the trainer has introduced and explained the components of a successful home visit, teachers form small groups and experience several rounds of role-play where they fulfill the role of visiting teacher(s) while a co-worker assumes the role of the parent in a specifically designed scenario. A fourth teacher serves as a process observer to provide feedback on the exchange. The scenarios are drawn from previous home visits, which become a wealth of case studies to work from. While teachers are given talking points for each visit (1st visits focus on building relationships and 2nd visits focus on academics), role-play prepares teacher to communicate more effectively and more naturally. During the role-play, teachers go through each step involved from the time they enter a home until they complete the Home Visit Evaluation Form.
As a result of the training, teachers come to understand the value of empathetic listening and develop the skills to paraphrase parental comments, and, when necessary, redirect a conversation to focus on the child’s education if distractions should arise during the visit.