To create a graphic organizer that captures researcher Joyce Epstein’s six overlapping spheres of influence of home and school and to evaluate your graphic organizer.
Scenario:
You are a new teacher in a preschool that is committed to improving its approach to family engagement. You have observed that teachers hold many different views of what the term “family engagement” means for your preschool. Your center director is aware that you have been strongly influenced by the work of Joyce Epstein, a leader in school–family–community research. Your director enlists you to create a graphic organizer explaining Epstein’s six overlapping spheres of influence of home and school as a way for you two to begin drafting a vision for the school. Your director then asks you to incorporate a sentence for each sphere of influence in your graphic organizer to elaborate on its meaning. Finally, your director asks you to incorporate one example of good practice for each sphere.
Focus Assignment
- Create a graphic organizer, using basic digital art tools, that shows the six overlapping spheres of influence of home and school based on Epstein’s model. Then, write a sentence for each sphere that summarizes the essence of its meaning. Last, add one example of good practice to each sphere.
Self-Evaluation
- For each sphere in your graphic organizer:
a. Explain how this sphere addresses the issues in the scenario. - Describe and justify how your graphic organizer would improve teaching and learning in the scenario.
