Families as Faculty is funded by the New Mexico Public Education Department, New Mexico Department of Heath, Family Infant and Toddler program (FIT) and the University of New Mexico Medical School-Continuum of Care. This program promotes family leadership skills and professional learning opportunities for future teachers and doctors that prepare them to work in partnerships with families to improve services, systems and outcomes.
The cornerstone of the program is providing university students with the opportunity to visit with families in the PRO network. Students learn first hand about experiences, both positive and negative, that a family has had in the special education or medical systems.
In 2005-06, 320 university students and 185 families met, talked, listened and learned from one another. The success of Families as Faculty depends on the willingness of families to share their experiences with students. They serve as faculty from whom university students can learn.
"I learned so much. that afterward, I just had to sit down and reevaluate so many things about being a teacher." ~ Student
Families as Faculty is organized in four parts: Host Family 101, orientation, family visit, and post visit reflection. During the orientation session, students become familiar with the goals and structure of the program and are assigned a reflection paper about their visit. An FAF adjunct family faculty member also tells his or her story about having a child with special needs. Students receive a handbook filled with resources, information about special education and articles and essays about the challenges and rewards of having a child with special needs.
Student pairs are assigned a family from the PRO network. Visits are typically held at the host's home and last about two hours. Families share their stories, experiences and the strategies that have worked for them and their children, and those that have not. Following the family visit, students reflect on their experience as a group. Here students discuss the home school relationship, how least restrictive environment looks from the family's perspective, the strengths, challenges and diversity of families and what this experience means to them as individuals and as professionals.
"I would have never learned in a textbook the lessons that I took away from this experience." ~ Student.
All host families are required to attend a two-hour orientation workshop, Host Family 101. Veteran host families are encouraged to attend Host Family 201 where a structured reflection of their experiences with students is discussed.
"It is wonderful to have a dialogue with people that may be able to make a difference for a child in the future." ~ Host family
Family members, who have hosted for at least two years, have the opportunity to be trained and mentored to present at university classes. At present, we have 10 adjunct family faculty presenting and teaching in classes throughout the state. If you would like more information or are interested in becoming a host family, please contact the program coordinator at 1-505-247-0192 or 1-800-524-5176.
Families as Faculty is offered at the University of New Mexico College of Education, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, University of New Mexico-Farmington, Western New Mexico University, Western New Mexico University Gallup Graduate Studies Center, New Mexico State University and Eastern New Mexico University.
Well informed and empowered families who can tell their story can make a positive difference as education and healthcare systems work to develop programs and policies for the children they serve. Families as Faculty offers opportunities for parents to lead the way in systems change as Host Families for visits by university students in the fields of education and health care. Please contact us if you are interested in joining Families as Faculty as a volunteer through our Family Leadership Action Network.
Parents Reaching Out offers a variety of materials as outreach tools as we connect with communities across New Mexico. Our publications are designed to provide information and resources that build informed decisions as families work with systems to create successful opportunities for children and young adults. We invite you to browse through our Publications and Fact Sheets page for topics that cover early intervention, early childhood, education, special education, health care access, and family involvement for systems change.
A downloadable pdf version of The Families as Faculty Student Handbook for our work with the universities is included on our Publications page.
Each project at Parents Reaching Out has an advisory committee made up of stakeholders who provide guidance and promote the goals of the project.
Contact Families as Faculty: FAF@parentsreachingout.org
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