Partnering From Within: Cultivating the Collective Wisdom of Your Parent Community
By Bessie Oster Gilman School • Baltimore, MD
Recently, I told my 10-year-old daughter I wanted to volunteer to teach a health education lesson at her school. She was not pleased. She informed me that she’ d never speak to me again if I went into her class and talked about changing bodies. Oops! I felt foolish for failing to anticipate her reaction— both as a parent and as a supposed expert.
In an article for The Atlantic, 1 Russell Shaw, Head of Georgetown Day School in Washington, D. C., with whom I worked as a health education consultant, used a lighthouse metaphor for effective parenting— encouraging parents to serve as a beacon of guiding light, empowering children to figure things out for themselves, rather than as a snowplow, clearing away the obstacles children face. His idea recognizes that children need opportunities to develop self-reliance and independence.
But what about parents’ capacity to be our own best experts? After all, we’ re just figuring it out as we go. It’ s daunting to know what’ s“ best” in a world that values research, best practices, and expert-status, but also where the“ facts” are readily available via parenting advice books, blogs, and podcasts, not to mention our personalized algorithms that serve up the latest wisdom in 15-second bites. Even Siri occasionally helps co-parent.
1. https:// www. theatlantic. com / family / archive / 2024 / 09 / lighthouse-parents-have-more-confidentkids / 679976 /
Page 12 Fall 2025 CSEE Connections