Transcript Document 7148033

School Communication
with ESL Homes
Jen Harris and
Laura Card
EDPY 413
University of Alberta
“In parents’ view, the school is the
door to society at large” (Jang and McDougall,
2007)
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Allow parents to use the
school as a space for social
and academic gatherings
Social spaces for parents
can be created through the
promotion of extracurricular
activities, sporting events,
family dances, or library
clubs
Parent support groups can
be created with teacher
guidance and support. Such
groups can be run and
maintained at the school
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://
Welcoming ESL Parents Into the
School Environment
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Allow parents to be volunteers in the classrooms,
lunchrooms, playground, or office
Provide parent support groups/ ESL classes that
teach cultural norms and daily routines.
Teachers can encourage family nights where movies
are shown, games are played or holiday themes are
celebrated. Such nights give parents a nonthreatening opportunity to enter the school without
worrying about language or their child’s
achievement.
Provide opportunities where language is not a
barrier.
Less than 50 percent of the school population are native English
Speakers…Our school Communities need to adapt.
www.vsb.bc.ca/vsbprograms/kto12/ESL/
Factors that Inhibit ESL Parent
Communication: Values
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Values: some cultures believe that their children are the school’s
responsibility during school hours and the parents’ responsibility out of
school hours; they think that the two dimensions do not interact and
should be kept separate.
Parents who have had little or no educational experience will most
likely be intimidated and overwhelmed.
Curriculum and teaching methodology is often different from parents’
country of origin.
Racial/linguistic/sexist discrimination from either side.
Teacher/school biases, hidden curriculum.
Diminished self-confidence due to previous experiences.
For many parents there is a deep fear of children losing their culture
and religion.Parents may be more deliberate and intense in preserving
cultural and religious traditions than they were in their home country.
Factors that Inhibit Parent
Communication: Language
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Language: if parents do not speak English they are
often too embarrassed or frustrated to come to the
school and try to communicate with the teachers. In
this circumstance, it is important that parents are
made aware of their right to an interpreter.
Communication is hampered by educational jargon
and assumptions.
Some parents feel that the language barrier leaves
them powerless
Factors that Limit Parent
Communication: Economic Status
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Employment: many parents have two jobs; these
parents do not have the time to get involved at the
school
Type of job(s) held often have irregular hours
compared to those of other families.
Transportation may be difficult
Some parents cannot be involved because 46
percent are living in poverty, of whom, 60 percent
are working poor (EMCN, 2006). These parents are
preoccupied with meeting basic needs.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
SelfActualization
Aesthetic
Cognitive
Self-Esteem: competence
Belongingness & Love: affiliation,
acceptance
Safety: financial security, psychological safety
Physiological: nourishment, sleep, exercise, etc.
Factors that Limit Parent
Communication: School Resources
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Schools lack manpower
Schools don’t consider the reading needs of these
parents.
Access to translators/interpreters is limited.
Teachers or administrators may not be adequately
prepared for working with ESL parents (may be
uncomfortable with open door policy and/or have no
experience conversing with ESL parents).
Parent Reception Meetings and
Greetings
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Aside from the normal parent reception meeting,
ESL parents need to have grade levels,
curriculum, assessment methods, school
supplies, intervention plans, and classroom
expectations explained to them.
An interpreter should be present.
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“Conflict and miscommunication between English as Second
Language parents and teachers has had a major impact on
educational policy” (Gou & Mohan, 2008).
Creating Family Literacy Programs
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Bilingual/ family literacy programs -> library with multi-language
books
Build conversation skills between parent and child in English
Read aloud
Home reading: exchange at parent night
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Send home lists of recommended books
Invite them to access library
Teach technology to parents -> useful multilingual websites
Hobbies as a group -> cooking, games
Encourage them to read with their child
Parent and child are learning English together
Parent Evenings
“Dialogue Across Differences”(Gou & Mohan, 2008)
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Review curriculum, policies, and assessment
methods
Recognize first languages at parent night
Tour of the school, introduction to teachers
Students speak in L1 and L2 (1st & 2nd language) as
interpreters -> validates parents’ L1
Parent nights help to increase understanding of the
ESL program
Portfolios show examples of student progress
Parent-Teacher Conferencing
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Empty rituals: “when conferences lack substance
they turn into meaningless routines and the
participants walk away feeling disappointed and
cheated” (Lawrence-Lightfoot, 2003).
Send home translated information a week before so
that parents can review the topics and plan their
questions and comments for the teacher.
Follow-up verbally after written notice (or vice-versa).
Send home checklists of student accomplishments
and records of skills and behaviors for parents to
review.
Use the checklist information at parent-teacher
interview.
Parent-Teacher Conferencing
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Portfolios to demonstrate progress and growth.
Student can lead/translate the beginning of the
conference, but a translator should be employed for
the educational or behavioral matters, to avoid
awkwardness and misinformation.
Make a plan with parents – give them specific tasks
that they will be able to do so they can supplement
the students’ learning at home.
Establishing Teacher-Parent
Communication Parameters
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At the beginning of the year, teachers and
administrators should all decide together what their
home communication policies are going to be.
Policies should be clearly communicated to parents
at the beginning of the year.
Schools need to ensure that home communication
practices are universal throughout the school so that
parents do not get confused with different teachers’
methods of communication.
Eliminating Language as a Barrier
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Ample representation of the various cultures in the school.
– Display signs in families’ first languages (i.e., Welcome, Please
report to the office, etc.)
Hallway signs and decorations in multiple languages
Take care to promote diverse cultures in your school so that your
school atmosphere does not only reflect western world-views
Send home parent tip sheets for homework -> preferably with a
translated page.
Scripted questions to ask about the student’s day at school or
curriculum (with answers -> also enables parents to help with review).
Regular communication through a school agenda -> provide room for
parents to write questions or concerns.
Familiarize yourself with families’ cultural background and values
– CultureGrams http://www.culturegrams.com/
Eliminating Language As A Barrier
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Send out multilingual newsletters
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Add a section to the newsletter to thank parents who help out or to
encourage parents to come and support a school event or activity.
Ask parents or community volunteers to act as translators or
ask the ESL consulting services to provide your school with a
translator.
Ensure that your school website has some sections or phrases
that are multilingual and/or have translated pages.
Bilingual staff can assist as translators at school.
Translating all newsletters -> students can write home in their
first language about what they are doing in class.
Multicultural materials in school displays -> multiple languages
Celebrate and Welcome Diversity
of Culture and Language
www.edu.gov.on.ca/.../sharingSpac
e_sidebar.html
Jang (2007) demonstrates the necessity of aiding parents in
“taking ownership around issues of community and
celebrating different cultures that make up our school(s)”.
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Schools can act as the middle-man to assist families
in receiving family therapy and language lessons,
and to help foster cultural communities among
families in the school population.
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Not only do students and parents need language
skills and language instruction, they also need
psychological support. They may be suffering from
post-traumatic stress, grieving the loss of family
members, as well as having to fit into a new
community.
“Social identity in the new language and new
culture is being formed, and for the time being,
the new identity is fragile” (Rance-Roney, 2008)
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Parents and students need assistance
understanding the new culture, and encouragement
while constructing their new Canadian identity.
Help parents to understand that Canadian society
can support their ethnic background while they
adjust to Canadian customs.
New language/culture/identity formation can happen
within the school setting.
“ESL classes for the adult should be held at the
same school as the kids so the whole family feels
they belong in the school” - ESL father (Ladky/Stagg,
2008)
Strengths of Newcomer Families
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Resiliency
Adaptability
Flexibility
Positive values
Facilitate larger perspective for all of us
Recognize the school as a center of
information and support
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Jang and Douglas (2007) discuss how immigrant
parents “face unique challenges related to
settlement, language, and employment” (p. 4).
Outreach center lists
Information sessions about Canadian schooling
Community potlucks
Settlement services
Mental health professionals
Refugee Experience
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Educational gaps hamper refugee students
and parents
Canadian Refugees by Language Ability
English speakers: 48.4 % (EMNC, 2006)
‘many families are separated’ - roles have to
change and this causes family dysfunction
Somali Parents
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In Somalia the community raises the children - not
just the nuclear family.
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implications for school: it’s our responsibility too
‘Father the bread winner’
‘Mother is caretaker/educator’
‘there are now many single Somali mothers because
of fathers lost in war or divorce once in Canada due
to new stresses’
Pre-Assessment Process
and Home Visits
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“Observing language use in context allows educators to see
how students actually use the relatively compartmentalized
skills measured by formal tests” (Herrera, Murry, & MoralesCabral, 2007).
Home visits allow parents to share their child’s educational
history, their personal observations, and explain their child’s
linguistic abilities in their first language.
Home visits can provide alternative evidence of skills (a
Kindergarten student sorting sock colours opposed to sorting
blocks at school).
Observing student interactions with family, who share the same
linguistic-cultural basis, demonstrates true linguistic abilities.
Whenever possible, home visits should include an interpreter in
so that the majority of the visit can be in the student’s first
language.
Assessment
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It is essential that teachers make their assessment
approaches clear to both students and parents
before assessment is done.
Positive feedback is key to building confidence in
students and increasing interest in parents.
Frequent feedback helps students take responsibility
for their own learning.
ELLs’ dropout rates are much higher than Canadianborn students (60% in Edmonton Catholic in 1999) /
decreased enrollment in provincially-examinable
high school courses (Toohey & Derwing, 2008).
Communicating Assessment to ESL
Parents
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ESL report card used in addition to an ESL
parent night
At parent night -> show samples of levels 1-4
students’ writing, speaking, etc.
Involve parents in the ESL Intervention Plan
ESL Assessment Portfolio: parental input
about strengths/academic goals/aspirations
the parent has for the child
Language Proficiency Assessment
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ELLs need to be able to assess their
language proficiency so that they can
communicate strengths and challenges to
their parents.
Reading checklists with easy-to-understand
vocabulary help parents to see their child’s
language growth, strengths and challenges.
Tips for planning a Home Visit
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Verbally set up a home visit time and then
follow-up with written communication about
date and time.
Send home language proficiency checklist
and Home Skills Survey in advance, so that
parents can prepare questions.
Book an interpreter well in advance.
If Home Visits Do Not Work
For Your School…
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Provide child-care during parent-teacher
conferences.
Have ESL parent-teacher conferences at a different
time than the school- wide conferences.
Designate a school area as an ESL resource room
where parents can gather, get educational and
cultural information and sign out reading materials.
Invite police, fire, medical and social services
personnel to conference night to explain their roles in
the community.
Special Education Referrals
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When notifying parents of Special Education
concerns, ensure that consent forms or
meetings are accurately translated.
Ensure that Special Education testing is
assessed in the student’s first language.
Always consider the ethical dilemma of how
long the student has been in Canada and
their previous educational background.
Useful Websites
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CultureGrams
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Grasslands Public Schools
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http://www.peopleforeducation.com/
Ontario group of parents working to support public education -> where
grasslands gets a lot of its materials
Coalition for Equal Access to Education
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http://www.grasslands.ab.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id
=180&Itemid=70
Brooks, Alberta -> comprehensive language resources
People for Education
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http://www.culturegrams.com/
http://www.eslaction.com/
Colorin Colorado
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http://www.colorincolorado.org/
American site, primarily English/Spanish but with good reading resources
More Useful Websites
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UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
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http://www.unhcr.ca/
Great source of information and lesson plans
http://www.playagainstallodds.com/ -> interactive
online game
http://www.unrefugees.org/usaforunhcr/uploadedfi
les/Passages.pdf -> educational tool/ simulation
game to promote understanding of the experience
of refugees
Useful Organizations
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NAARR Northern Alberta Alliance on Race Relations
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http://www.naarr.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Ite
mid=145
Professional Development: Cultural Crossroads
Classroom resources
EISA Edmonton Immigrant Services Association
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http://eisa-edmonton.org/
Programs and Services
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Catholic Social Services
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Language Bank -> translation services
http://www.catholicsocialservices.ab.ca/CSSFindServicesbyCategory/Immi
grationandSettlement.aspx
Counseling, sponsorship, language instruction, etc.
Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers
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http://www.emcn.ab.ca/Community_Services/Youth_Programs
Language & cultural brokers
Counseling
Language instruction
Bibliography
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