Farewell for Now

http://pbskids.org/mayaandmiguel/english/parentsteachers/index.html

Ending this quarter with a fun activity I would like to share the P.B.S show Maya and Miguel. The TV show has two main goals. To help children better understand and respect other cultures, traditions, languages and experiences. Secondly to help children build their vocabulary in English. The show as well as the web site is a great tool to bridge gaps in communication with families as well as students.

I find the TV show to be a great learning experience and now that I’ve seen the web site it will remain in my arsenal of tools. When exploring the site I found a vast resource of partnerships, especially helping Hispanic speaking kids. The site is available in English and Spanish, and is easy to use. The lesson plans are useful for parents as well as students and the interactive qualities of this site, have now become a place for me to play/learn. Please check it out, and I will see you around UWB.

Where do I start?

Where do I start?

In the past five weeks I’ve compiled a lot of information on how to connect with Mexican/Hispanic parents and their community. My question originally was based around better communication, but as my research has shown the complexity of the issue has many different components.

Today’s blog entry examines what I feel and the evidence points to, is taking the first step. This blog was inspired by Connie Milliken and her talk on home visits. Having had some previous experience with home visits I thought it would be a good starting place and sought out scholarly sources. Using Georgia Pappas’s Forging Home-School Partnerships with Latino Families, that appeared in L.A.R.A.S.A. (Latin American Research and Service Agency/Report) March, 1997 I see that “The most effective strategies were personal Home visits, grape vines , gatherings at the gate” (p. 3). Pappas believes as I do, the key is face to face communication with parents in their homes or a neutral setting, in their language. Having one of these experiences at Lake Hills Elementary I saw first hand how 20 minutes over a cup of coffee bonded my master teacher to a family for a year. Their (family/teacher) goals were the same, but the differences seemed overwhelming. Knowing now the results of the relationship, I am happy to endorse this type of interaction. The time and commitment on the teacher’s was well as the parents are great, but the results are student success.

Pappas (1997) says “Teachers who have developed successful relationships with Latino parents share the following characteristics”

Teachers developed a long-range systematic plan to increase Latino parental participation.
Teachers took the attitude that all parents are expected to participate, and if they don’t it is the teachers’ responsibility to make it happen.
Teachers did not use parents’ ethnicity, income, education, or martial status as excuses for lack of involvement. (p. 3)

There must be a commitment to leadership by the teacher, school, and principal. Once the Latino community sees this commitment, it inspires involvement or commitment on their part. I feel the best way to look at these relationships is “Enjoy this opportunity to get to know your student and their families. It will set the tone for your whole year” (Connie Milliken).

Historically schools have used one-way communication, but as I have shown two-way communication is crucial in breaking cultural barriers. Sometimes teachers overlook what Latino families have to offer their classrooms, and teachers need to remember that families already know their children’s learning styles, strengths and weakness. Forging partnerships between different cultures and schools in the United States is causing a major shift for schools. It’s all about “who” is taking the responsibility for educational outcomes, and the changing face now sees communities, families and schools in partnership. (Nancy Chavkin and Dora Lara, Forging Partnerships between Mexican American Parents and the Schools. ERIC Digests, ED388489)


Perceptions and Attitudes of Teachers and Latino Parents (from LARASA Report)

Some Teachers Perceptions:
…I send home notes and I call and still I can’t get them to a meeting. I think that a lot of them just don’t care

…Where have they been all their lives? The children don’t know anything. They come into kindergarten with out knowing colors or numbers. They can’t hold a pencil.

Some Latino Perceptions about Schools:
…I am called by the school when there is a problem with my son, then the teachers make me feel embarrassed and hurt about his behavior. I feel I don’t belong in the school.

…The teachers are professional people. They know what is best for children. I went to the third grade; how can I question my son’s teacher? She knows what is best for him.
(p. 3)

Finally I think it is important to address the attitudes of teachers. Negative or condescending attitudes focused toward at risk kids. Many of these kids are Latino. Using judgmental written communication to Latino parents is a great example of negative attitudes. Another example would be communication that is filled with educational jargon, and as teachers, half of us don’t understand the lingo. Can you image how Latino parents feel?

Closing this post I would like to leave you with a thought: “Overcoming the cultural and social conditioning of low-income Hispanic parents does not require the expenditure of large sums of money. It does, however, require time and energy, patience and persistence. It also requires flexibility. (Hispanic Policy Development Project)

Good example of Home visits resource:
Prestame una Comadre (Springfield, Illinois) means “loan me a godmother” in Spanish and works with migrant Head Start families. Social workers conduct home visits as often as three times weekly and hold small group meetings. Families work on increasing self-reliance, learning about child development and education, and improving family functioning.

Online source: http://www.yic.gov/partners/overview.htmlcurrent .gov site links to many curent new articles on this topic

Newspaper helps Direction of Research

Media Evidence gives Direction

After reviewing several news articles, two from the New York Times and another from the Daily Herald located in Arlington Heights Illinois I’m seeing how cultural communication difficulties are keeping Hispanic parents away form schools. The evidence on how different barriers are embedded in the public school system goes back to its creation. When searching the New York Times historical data base I found as far back as 1980s different coalitions created to help Hispanic parents with involvement in American public school system. The Hispanic Student Advocacy Project is just one great example. With the purpose of “Training adults to be ‘advocates for their own children’ in schools” the program recruits community members and trains them to be advocates in schools. They basically become liaisons between schools and families that need help. This example which is based in New York, recruits from all Hispanic cultures. The principle purpose of their project is to focus on kids that are at risk to drop out of school. Due to social economic hardships and cultural disparities the research has shown that Hispanic children are at risk to drop out. (Coalition for Helping Hispanic Parents, New York Times, Sunday, Dec. 16, 1989)

The crucial thing that I got that is useful today from the Coalition article was when helping/teaching Hispanic parents it is imperative they know their rights. In Mexico the rights of the parents are limited, so this is why the Hispanic cultures are more trusting of the system, or in other words they have to accept it. Another important fact that came from the same reading was the recruitment process of Hispanic parents. The organization went into cultural based food markets, laundry mats, and churches to argue their plea. The biggest opposition to helping was the families were to busy earning money to survive. But the Coalition was resourceful; they allowed parents to help in non-typical types of involvement. They didn’t come to the schools and do active participation. They worked phone trees and organized different cultural functions that inspired community based activism.

Another way to think about the bond between schools and Hispanic parents is holistically. Using a great reading by Linda Chavez in the N.Y. Times dated Aug. 3, 1986 titled Encouraging Hispanic Students to Stay in School. Chavez uses examples from Chicago, New York and Texas to examine why there is such a high drop out rate among Hispanic students. The nation average in 1985 for students dropping out of high school was 29%, but in the Hispanic’s it was over 37%. Her examination produced several alternatives that are holistically developed to connect or bond the Hispanics to the schools. It seems like it gives them their own place in the school system. One good example is a tutor program in San Antonia where high school kids tutor primary kids. The point is giving the high school kids self worth. The parents are involved because they are the liaisons. Another program offers Hispanic only sports teams, in this example it was baseball. Allowing the community to support a cultural based team really connected the community as a whole.

Finally I found evidence that would be helpful in teacher/Hispanic parent relationship because as the article states “We don’t need to campaign the importance of education to Hispanic parents. The task of educators is to help all parents to translate their caring into actions” (Dornbush, S. N.Y. Times. May 8, 1990) and I think this is the most powerful thing I have read since starting this journey. This article points out that due to less education, lower social economical status and lack of English language skills; Hispanic parents are less likely to criticize American teachers. This is a problem, because as we have seen from our class work, parent involvement is crucial to student success.

Phase 3: Exploring the Basics

After struggling with the structure of my investigation into Mexican parent/American teacher relationships and communication I though it would be helpful to refocus on the basics. What works for all nationalities and cultures? It seems like I always revert back to Joyce Epstein’s Six Types of Involvement. As simplistic as it seems, I feel the framework introduces many different ways to apply partnerships, which in this conversational blog could be a starting point to go beyond the one to one relationship of parent and teacher. The diagram to the right shows the six types of involvement, but in this post I will focus on type 1 Parenting: ways to assist families with parenting skills and like I addressed in phase 2 of my plan, helping schools understanding of families. Also, I feel that type 6 Collaborating with the Community is crucial in Epsteins’s work. It is where families and schools collaborate with the community to coordinate resources and services. This is where many immigrant families, especially Mexican families feel safe. Working closely with people of similar origin and backgrounds help ease the stressors of living in a new place.

Using an article by Joyce Epstein and Karen Clark Salinas titled Partnering with Families and Communities: A well-organized program of family and community partnership yields many benefits for schools and their students; I can see how Epstein and Clark Salinas open the door so the six types of involvement and how they can be implemented. They open the door by saying “A school learning community welcomes all families. Many schools serve a diverse rage of students, including new immigrants and refugees. The parents of such students, like all parents, want their children to succeed in school. These children, like all students, do better when their parents and teachers are partners” (p. 13). This quote is the perfect avenue to type 1 of involvement. Where and how does the teacher assist families with parenting? This seems like a touchy or grey area between teachers and parents, but as teachers this something we do everyday. It’s part of our expectations for parents. As teachers we can’t expect parents to do things that we don’t understand ourselves. We need to know our resources and how to direct parents when setting home conditions that support students.

Using a simple example, Martha in your first grade class is late everyday. It is your responsibility as a professional educator to investigate. After knowing the facts you find out that Martha’s mom has four other children that she has to drive to three different schools, and that is why Martha is late everyday. At this point you can pull your resources, what I mean is there any other forms of transportation. How can the community fit into this problematic equation? It could be as simple as you just allow Martha to be tardy, due to the circumstances.

This is a good place for type 6 involvement or collaborating with the community. Especially with the changing cultural demographics in our community I feel it is imperative that the new paradigm teacher have community connections. Using some great examples from a research paper done by Carolyn Temple Adger and Jennifer Locke titled Broadening the Base: School/Community Partnerships Serving Language Minority Students at Risk, I see that this type of involvement takes time to research. The teacher must actively seek out community based organizations (CBOs). Two great resources for kids in our area is Refugee and Immigrant Forum based in Everett and Project Look: Learning Outreach Organization for Kids which is based out of Seattle. Using Adger and Locke’s research is a great springboard to other CBOs and I have listed some of their work below. Overall using CBOs is great way to help parents and teachers connect, but remember that you the teacher are giving advice about something you should know about. I mean, make sure your CBOs do what you want them to. Recommending an organization that will not help, or doesn’t do what you what it too can be harmful to the relationship.

Please note that some of these resources or CBOs are geographically or culturally specific.


Academic Youth Employment Program
Toppenish, WA
1987
Provides tutoring and career exploration for migrant and at-risk youth.

ACCESS
Dearborn, MI
1977
Provides bilingual community resources such as health services, family counseling, vocational education, cultural arts programs, adult education, and mental health and social services.

Alum Rock Even Start Program
San Jose, CA
1991
Provides literacy and parenting classes for adults and early childrhood programs for children.

ASPIRA
Miami, FL
1992
Operates alternative middle schools for at-risk students, particularly Puerto Rican, Latino, and Haitian.

Bell Cluster Healthy Start Collaborative
Bell, CA
1995
Improves student achievement by addressing health and counseling needs; provides tutoring and mentoring.

Cambridge Community Services-City Links
Cambridge, MA
1992
Introduces linguistic minority youth to government careers and trains them for leadership positions in the community through public sector apprenticeships, public service career seminars, and replication.

Castelar Healthy Start
Los Angeles, CA
1992
Addresses human service needs of families and children in the community through case management, health care, parenting classes, etc. Also addresses domestic violence, substance abuse, and gang-related issues.

Challenger Center
Adelphi, MD
1993
Combines interagency resources to ensure the well-being of young children and their families and communities. Family centers provide tutoring, teacher-parent conferences, English as a second language (ESL) classes, and other services.

Children's Aid Society Community Schools
New York, NY
1991
Strengthens the educational process for teachers, parents, and students through health counseling, recreation, and education for the entire family.

Colonias Project
El Paso, TX
1990
Builds community centers in impoverished border communities and supports development of programs that provide social services, connect schools and communities, and help students learn English.

Community Achievement Project in the Schools
New York, NY
1990
Brokers partnerships between schools and CBOs to enhance students' well-being, attendance, and academic performance.

Community Service Learning
Springfield, MA
1988
Provides tutoring and mentoring integrated with the school curriuclum.

Cuban-American National Council
Miami, FL
1987
Runs four alternative schools for Latino youth in trouble. The program attempts to turn disconnected and underachieving youth into successful students.

Filipino Youth Empowerment Project
Seattle, WA
1995
Provides tutoring, mentoring, and leadership training for high school students.

Junior National Health Services Corps
Kansas City, KS
1995
Introduces Latino youth from migrant or other poorly paid families to careers in medicine that serve the communities; assists in improving reading, writing, and spoken English skills.

Language Acquisition and Transition Program
Houston, TX
1996
Offers ESL instruction and vocational skills and supports students' academic development.

Lennox/Hughes/UCLA Partnership
Lennox, CA
1992
Prepares families for young children's entry into school and prepares high school students for higher education and careers. Supports hands-on science and technology activities, English and native language instruction, after-school activities, and counseling in intergoup relations. Also strives to reduce problematic behaviors and improve health.

Liberty Partnerships Program
South Bronx, NY
1989
Provides support services to at-risk students; designed to increase students' motivation and ability to complete secondary education and to seek entry into post-secondary education and the work force.

Migrant Education Even Start
Kansas City, KS
1996
Offers ESL literacy instruction to parents and children.

Modesto Healthy Start Program
Modesto, CA
1992
Provides comprehensive, integrated school-based and school-linked services to families.

Mother-Daughter Program
El Paso, TX
1986
Supports mother-daughter teams in setting and working toward higher education goals.

Murchison Family Center
Los Angeles, CA
1991
Helps students and families access health and support services in order to minimize barriers to learning.

New Beginnings
San Diego, CA
1988
Promotes family and community well-being through risk-prevention and early academic intervention services.

Pacoima Urban Village
Pacoima, CA
1990
Provides comprehensive services for children and families and acts as a community center for adults; also is involved with curriulum and instruction at the school.

Project Achieve/Theodore Roosevelt High School: St. Rita's Center for Immigrants and Refugees
Bronx, NY
1989
Facilitates student transition into high school.

Project Look: Learning Outreach Organization for Kids
Seattle, WA
1992
Provides academic and social services to disadvantaged children and families in low-income housing complexes.

Refugee and Immigrant Forum
Everett, WA
1979
Offers tutoring for at-risk immigrant youth from many countries.

School of the Future
Houston, TX
1987
Provides site-based counseling support services, violence prevention programs, drug prevention education, parent services, and community collaboration.

South East Regional Resource Center
Alaska
1976
Provides preschool and infant learning projects, family literacy programs, adult basic education, and postsecondary training in rural Alaska.

Transforming Education for New York's Newest
New York, NY
1996
Supports New York City schools in their efforts to respond to immigrant students through inservice professional development modules for teachers.

Vocational Building Skills, Inc.
Sanders, AZ
1983 and 1989
Serves Navajo, Hopi, and White Mountain Apache tribes/nations; trains high school and GED graduates for jobs that are available in the area, especially carpentry and computer technology.

A World Apart

Phase 2

The information in this phase will help American teachers understand Mexican students and families by suggesting ways U. S. schools can learn from examples of the educational system in Mexico. This phase demonstrates the expectations of Mexican Parents in the United States, which is crucial to the English speaking teacher who is trying to bridge the cultural gap. Using Robert Miller’s work Helping Mexican and Mexican-American Students in Schools of the East Side Union High School District published in 1999. Miller starts his intensive study making a statement that I have seen in correlation parents and their roles in all cultures, he says “The key to educational success is found in the home “ (p. 3) and I can’t agree more.

Mexican-American parents remember school from Mexico, so obviously their expectations are derived from those experiences. These parents are the role models and responsible to motivate their children’s educational experiences. The purpose is for American teachers’ to see the emphasis is on metal pictures that the Mexican parents have created from their home. What American teachers expect could be totally different in the minds of the Mexican parents’ and they need to keep that in mind.

Miller (1999) points out one of the most important differences which may not seem so important to an Americans is the organization of the Mexican School System. He says “Mexican education is centralized. The SEP [The Secretaria de Educacion Publica or Secretary of Education] controls the curriculum, the textbooks, teacher training and coordinates the system. States are responsible for the upkeep of the schools” (p. 3). When analyzing the differences in Miller’s quote to what I know as the education system, I can see huge disparities. What I mean is that the teachers are controlled, even more so than in the U.S. Teachers in Mexico have less choice or say. So when we are dealing with Mexican parents’ we need to remember that they don’t think we have the power of choice. Bear in mind they are reflecting off their experiences.

Another important fact that I would like to include in this phase of learning and change is made by a group of Mexican teachers’ who were visiting the Denver School District. Their observations have suggested that the American teacher keeps Mexican students at arms length. What they are saying is the bond between student and teacher is too distant. For Mexican students to make the successful cultural transition they need to connect to the school. This is not only important for the students, it is imperative for parents. Other advice from the visitors was more consistency. The U.S. offers too many alternatives, which confuses parents, because the system in Mexico is so structured. The parents know what to expect in Mexico. In the U. S. the options are almost limitless, which can be mind-boggling. The information in this paragraph was taken from the Term Paper: News and Analysis for School Reform from The Piton Foundation Volume III, Number I—May 2004, page 2.

Realizing that I only covered two great tips for American teachers in this phase of learning has motivated my investigation for more tips like these. If anyone has any tips to share please chime in.

Can You Understand Me?

Constructing Roles

This segment of my blog will start to examine the importance of parent involvement and how it contributes to their children’s’ success in school. The majority of scholarly data in this segment was pulled from the Peabody Journal of Education 76 no2 119-69 2001. Using the article Engaging Latino Families for Student Success: how Parent Education Can Reshape Parents’ Sense of Place in the Education of Their Children by Janet Chrispeels and Elvia Rivero. I explore how parent involvement helps their children’s success, no matter what the cultural or socioeconomic situations are. Chrispeels and Rivero say “The literature on parent involvement suggests that there are differences in how parents define their place in their children’s education based on cultural and socioeconomic status (Coleman et al., 1966; Lareau, 1989: Lightfoot, 1978; Van Galen, 1987)” (p. 2) and these places are important to understanding the relationship between the American teacher and Mexican parents.

Chrispeels and Rivero are quick to argue that “When roles are in transition or a new culture is entered, individuals’ past behaviors and patterns on interaction may not be appropriate and new behaviors and patterns need to be learned. This learning occurs through sent messages and repeated interactions with different players within the system.” (p. 1) After contemplating that quote my questions now become how do teachers and parents recognize old behaviors and transition to the new. Who are different players in the system and what to they bring to the table?

The evidence shows that the old behavior can be eased or put to rest by the teachers’ initial interaction with the parents. Teachers should initiate parent participation no matter what the cultural barriers consist of. Inviting Mexican parents to do the same activities that you would invite your American parent’s too. I am talking about attending committee meetings, observe in the classroom, attend PTA meetings, volunteer at school, conferences, telephone conversations, and face to face talking before and after school. Don’t allow language to be a barrier. This is where my second question comes in. Who are the different players?

Phase 1: Who’s Who and Why?
For the conversations between Spanish speaking Mexican parents’ and English speaking teachers’ the key players are people who can interpret. Make sure these players are relating both sides of the conversation completely. I remember when I was working as a nurse and we were telling an elderly Cambodian woman that the doctors would have to amputate her leg, due to years of diabetic abuse, which caused gangrene. The women’s grand daughter was translating and didn’t want to tell her grandma that her leg had to come off, so she told her she was having a procedure to drain the infection. Of course the women signed the consent forms; she couldn’t read or speak English. When she awoke from surgery, legless it became a lawyers dream. The hospital was negligent, because they allowed the grand daughter to translate.

So my first phase of my blog has focused on the roles of interpretation, and the importance of good translation. I hope some of my readers have some good stories to share on translation nightmares.

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.