Transcript Building Home School Alliances with Latino Parents

Building Home School
Alliances with Latino
Parents
Martha Villegas-Gutiérrez, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Agenda
• Introductions
• Outcomes
• Activity
• Professional Training, Experience, and
Expectations
Agenda (continued)
• Latino Parent Involvement
Definition, Goals, and Assumptions
• Legal Mandates
• Latino/a Students in the U.S.
• Latino Parent Involvement Theory
Agenda (continued)
• Latino Parent Involvement Research
• Latino Parent Involvement Best Practice
Successful families and schools
Parent and teacher stories
• Recommended Strategies
• Action Plan
Steps to promoting “authentic” Latino parentinvolvement
Outcomes
Broaden responsivity to the culture(s)
of students and families
Understand the impact of culture on
individuals and systems
Understand how individualism and
collectivism function in a cultural
context
Outcomes (continued)
• Understand the meaning of parental
involvement
• Reflect on relationships with your
students’ parents
• Understand cultural and linguistic
considerations in work with parents
• Learn recommended practices for working
with parents
Activity: Ground Rules
(10 minutes)
Part 1: Small Group Dialogue
Discuss what it would take to feel safe when talking,
sharing, and participating in this session. (5 minutes)
Part 2: Whole Group Ground Rules
Share suggestions from the small group dialogue and
summarize to create three to five ground rules for this
session. (5 minutes)
Martha
Immigrant Citizen
Second Language Learner/Eternal Learner
Wife
Mother of two girls
Bilingual Teacher
Bilingual/Bicultural Professional
School Psychologist/Multicultural Specialist
Licensed Psychologist
Bilingual/Multicultural Assessment: Acculturation,
Language Proficiency, Latino parent involvement.
What’s in a Name?
Take 5 minutes to think about your
name and what it reflects about
yourself. Draw or write concepts that
illustrate events that have shaped who
you are at the present time.
Assumptions,
Assumptions,
Assumptions…
• A belief without proof
• Always ask to clarify your thinking
What is Culture?
A combinations of thoughts, feelings, attitudes,
beliefs, values, and behavior patterns that are
shared by racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups
of people
Two different culture lenses
 Big C: Membership in particular racial/ethnic
groups, between group differences
 Little c: Individual cultural identity, continuous
and unrelated to any specific group; honors the
complexity in each of us; within group
differences
What is Ethnicity?
Ethnicity is a complex construct
that is defined differently in
different places
1. Ancestry
2. Religion, language, caste or tribal
group
3. A strong sense of belonging that
can only be determined by the
individual, not assigned by
outsiders
Dimensions of Culture
 Language
 Education
(NCCRESt)
 Family Ties
 Time
 Space and Proximity Grooming and
Presence
Individualism and
Collectivism
Individual fulfillment and choice
Individual success
Interdependent relations, social
responsibility, and the well-being of the
group; successful relations with others
in a group
Home School Conflict
Individualism
• Child as Individual
• Independence
Collectivism
• Child as part of the
group
• Helpfulness
• Cognitive Skills
• Oral Expression
• Personal Property
• Social Skills
• Listening to Authority
• Sharing
Parent Involvement
Parent Involvement Legal
Mandates
• America 2000 National Mandate
• No Child Left Behind Act
• Race to the Top
Premises
Parents play an essential role in their
children’s well being and in the school
community.
School and social transformation
possibilities can be realized only through
solidarity relationships with bicultural
parents.
Darder, A. in E. Olivos, The Power of Parents (2006).
Demographics
Latinos are increasingly shaping
the demographic makeup of the
United States.
How?
Between 1980 and 2009
• The U.S. population grew by 36 percent
• The Latino population more than tripled,
increasing from 14.6 million to nearly 48.4
million
Over the past 30 years
• Latinos accounted for slightly more than
40 percent of the roughly 81 million people
added to the U.S. population
Latino Parents Experience
in the United States
• Function in two culturally and
linguistically distinct worlds
• Are impacted by acculturation
• Are impacted by language proficiency
Acculturation
Is the process of adaptation to a new
cultural environment without abandoning
native cultural values.
Influences family and social interactions,
cognition, emotion, behavior, perceptions,
ideologies, beliefs, values, language use,
and other aspects of human behavior and
functioning.
Cuellar & Paniagua, 2000
Acculturation Outcomes
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Biculturalism
Separation
Assimilation
Marginalization
Family Acculturation
Patterns
• Dissonant
• Consonant
• Selective
(Goldstein 2004)
Effects of Acculturation
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Heightened Anxiety
Confusion in Locus of Control
Withdrawal
Silence or unresponsiveness
Response Fatigue
Code Switching
Distractibility
Resistance to Change
Disorientation
Stress Related Behaviors
C. Collier, 2002
Teachers and School Personnel
Acculturation Agents
Latino Families Linguistic
Patterns
• Dissonant
• Consonant
• Selective
First language acquisition
process
When parents and children speak the
language that they know best, they are
working at their level of cognitive
maturity. Practicing English at home
[when it is not the primary language of
the parents] can actually slow down
students’ cognitive development.
V. Collier, 1995
Language and Identity
What is lost when children and
parents cannot communicate easily
with one another? What is lost is no
less than the means by which parents
socialize their children: When
parents are unable to talk to their
children, they cannot easily convey to
them their values, beliefs,
understandings or wisdom about how
to cope with experiences.
Wong Fillmore, 1991
Latino Parent School
Involvement
• Goals
• Assumptions
• Past and current perceptions
Teacher’s Reflections
Stories of Latino parentinvolvement in schools
• Challenges
• Successes
Parents as teachers
…Someone who engages learners, who
seeks to involve each person wholly –
mind, sense of self, sense of humor,
range of interests, interactions with
other people-in learning.
(Duckworth, 1987)
Latino Parents as
Co-Teachers
• Home
• Classroom
• School
• Community
Latino Parent School
Involvement
Definitions
School Personnel
Parents
School/Community
Latino Parent Involvement
Emphasizes
• The right/responsibility to be
informed and involved in their
children’s education at home, in the
classroom, school, and community
• Empowerment to seek and request
equitable and appropriate educational
experiences for their children
Questions to Ponder
Considering that parent School
involvement in the United States
dates back to the 1880s …
Why has our educational
system been unsuccessful in
establishing “authentic
relationships” with African
American, Latino, and lowincome parents?
Why aren’t such parents more
involved?
Why do teachers think such
parents “don’t care?”
Why do many parents who do
participate find their
involvement meaningless?
Why should parents be involved
in their children’s education?
Should parents leave the
education of children up to the
experts?
Successful Parental
Involvement Guidelines
• Parents help children succeed academically
• Educators help parents understand their
children’s educational rights
• Educators help parents understand and
promote their own empowerment and
efficacy on behalf of their children
Teacher’s Reflections
Take a moment to reflect on the following:
How do Latino parents relate to the
public school system in general and to
their children’s schools in particular?
How do school personnel relate to
Latino parents?
How do school personnel interact with
family members who are non-middle
class and non-white?
Underlying Assumptions
of Parent Involvement
• Parents are the primary source of
nurture and socialization in their
children’s lives.
• Parents play an important role in the
production of education at the school
Latino Parent School
Involvement Research
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Delgado-Gaitan, C. (2004)
Centella, A. C. (2005)
Olivos, E. M. (2006)
Trumbull et al (2001)
Delgado-Gaitan (2004)
Parent involvement
• No one size fits all.
• No single model: fundamental
premises for effective programs.
• Parent Involvement Programs
increase academic performance
Centella, A. C. (2005)
Family-centered orientation
Latino caregivers actively struggle to
help their children fit in and get
ahead while simultaneously retaining
their native language and values.
Latino Parent Involvement
Best Practice
• Connecting
Authentic Interest
Trust
Respect
Sharing
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Practice Effective Listening
Conduct meeting bilingually
Make frequent contact
Speak to parents in comprehensible
language
• Present possibilities
Staying Involved
• Match parents skills with classroom
needs
• Integrate Latino culture into the
classroom
• Provide a well-rounded
representation of the Latino
experience
Successful Latino Parent
Involvement Schools
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Stockton Parent Resource Center
Wendell Phillips Magnet School
Hueco School
Cox Schoolwide Program
Resources
National PTA Standards
www.diversitylearningk12.com
The Education of Latino Students
www.ed.gov.org
Colorincolorado.org
Today’s Action
• How can you promote “authentic”
Latino parent participation?
• What barriers might challenge your
work with Latino parents?
Action Plan
With other teachers from your school,
do the following:
List your goals for involving Latino
parents in your classroom.
List strengths and resources that
will facilitate your goals.
Identify one LPI daily activity.
Goals and Resources
Remember
A teacher’s influence in a student’s life
takes place within one academic year.
Parental influence takes place within an
individual’s lifetime.
References
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Collier, C. (2004). Separating difference from disability: Assessing
diverse learners (3rd ed.). Ferndale, WA: CrossCultural
Developmental Education Services.
Collier, V. (1995). Promoting academic success for ESL students.
Woodside, NY: Bastos Book Co.
Cuellar, I., & Paniagua, F. (Eds.) (2000). Handbook of multicultural
mental health: Assessment and treatment of diverse populations.
San Diego, CA: Harcourt.
Delgado-Gaitan, C. (2004). Involving Latino Families in the
Schools: Raising Student Achievement Through Home-School
Partnerships. Corwin Press. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Goldstein, B. (2004). Bilingual Language Development & Disorders
in Spanish-English Speakers. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks.
References (continued)
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National Center for Culturally and Responsive Educational
Systems. www.nccrest.org.
Olivos, E. M. (2006). The Power of Parents: A Critical Perspective
of Bicultural Parent Involvement in Public Schools. New York:
Peter Lang.
Saenz, Rogelio (2010). Population Bulletin Update: Latinos in the
United States.
Trumbull, E., Rothstein-Fishch, C., Greenfield, P. M., Quiroz, B.
(2001). Bridging Cultures between Home and School: A Guide for
Teachers. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wong Fillmore, L. (1991a). A question for early-childhood
programs: English first or families first? Education Week, June
19, 1991.
Zoppi, I. M. (2006). Latino Parental involvement in students’ school
attendance and achievement. College of Education, University of
Maryland, College Park.