After having many personal struggles with commutation of my Latino parents I have decide to refine my multicultural communication skills by starting with research on different communication techniques and educator’s tricks when communicating with Latinos. Examining closely cultural norms and historical customs I can see that this learning process with be an on going adventure.

I have decided that before I peel off into the vastness of multicultural communication I better review the thought process on proper two way communication between teachers and parents. Involving parents and guardians and the community in the teaching/learning process of schools today is what our class text authors Anne Wescott Dodd and Jean Konzal would consider bridging into the new paradigm. The new paradigm uses home, school and community relationships to work interdependently and hopes to “Incorporate [the] most transitional characteristics [and] go beyond to broaden and deepen relationships and connections” (p. 126).

The best way to review some of the basic techniques for two-way communication or teacher parent communication was to look at the latest National Education Goals (Goals 2000: Educate America Act). Going to http://www.slc.sevier.org/effecom.htm has given me the starting place to incorporate good techniques and now I need to see learn and practice how to apply them to my Latino families and the community. Effective Communication between similar cultures is difficult enough, but now I must conceive how to build healthy open communication between two different cultures.

I will base my work off the four Ps; Positive, Proactive, Personalized and Partnership. Using an upbeat fresh “your child” approach I hope to learn and practice what I can share with others, which is not what Dodd and Konzal says “what do our children need?” (p. 126), but what does YOUR child need and how can WE (school, family, and community) get there.