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What impact do culture and language have on a family’s involvement in school and on their child’s education?Research demonstrates that when families participate in their children’s education, those children make academic gains. This being the case, it is important for teachers to work to increase family involvement in students’ academic lives. Culturally responsive teachers acknowledge that cultural and linguistic differences can play a big part in whether families become involved with school. The table below outlines a few of the challenges related to family involvement and suggests some ways that school staff can respond.
Listen as Clint McDougal contrasts what some parents consider to be their responsibility to their child’s education and the teacher’s expectations of parents’ responsibility for educating their children (time: 0:50). Clint McDougal
View Transcript Transcript: Clint McDougal Studies have shown that when parents are involved in the children’s education, involved with the school, the children have better success with school. There are issues, especially with parents who come from immigrant communities. Often in their home countries, schools are seen as very much an expert realm, and parents have very little interaction with schools other than to just send their children to the school. When they come to the United States, many of them are unaware of the fact that schools in the United States encourage participation on the part of parents, want them to, would like them to come to school, meet with them about their children’s social learning, their academic learning. But it’s extremely important that a teacher would try to engage the parents of all of the children, specifically the parents of children who come from a culture other than that of mainstream American culture. Listen as Luz Hernandez shares her advice about working with families from diverse backgrounds (time: 1:19). Transcript: Luz Hernandez My words of wisdom to school personnel, quite honestly, is listen to families. Try to understand where they’re coming from. Realize that everyone has different needs. And, yet, families know their children very well, and they need to respect and use the families so that they can appropriately educate their children and so that families can feel more as a part of the school and be more willing to go to those meetings that the schools hold and then they say that parents don’t want to attend. It’s how they’re welcomed. If they’re parents who have limited English proficiency, they need to make accommodations for them and not have excuses every time a family comes to try to join a group. If they’re families that have children with different disabilities or differently-abled, they need to acknowledge that and really try to help them maybe not even only with school issues, but have at least resources available for families that they can help them out in other ways so that they can be a stronger family and ultimately be able to advocate and assist the schools as well. Community Involvement Just as family involvement can increase a student’s success in school, creating partnerships within the community may also positively influence the academic success of students from diverse backgrounds. Members of the community might offer a deeper understanding of a given cultural background than is otherwise available to school personnel. To strengthen programs and policies in the educational environment, school staff might:
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ActivityTeachers might not realize that the way they interact with their students can influence family involvement. To assess your own beliefs, take a moment to answer the questions below.
Cultural ConnectionMr. Bennet met with the family resource coordinator, Mrs. Gomez, about his difficulty contacting Maria’s parents. In turn, Mrs. Gomez was able to contact Maria’s parents and arrange a meeting at a restaurant near their home. Mrs. Gomez acted as the translator during the discussion, which was informative both for Maria’s parents and Mr. Bennett and allowed them to come up with a plan to help Maria in school.What are the 4 types of diversity in the classroom?How Diversity Affects the Classroom. Much discussion about diversity focuses on the following forms of marginalization: race, class, gender, and sexual orientation — and rightfully so, given the importance of these forms of difference.
How can you identify best practices in dealing with diversity in the classroom?How do you Manage Diversity in the Classroom?. Get to Know Your Students. ... . Maintain Consistent Communication. ... . Acknowledge and Respect Every Student. ... . Practice Cultural Sensitivity. ... . Incorporate Diversity in the Lesson Plan. ... . Give Students Freedom and Flexibility.. What is the role of the parents in the education and development of the child?Parents serve as the first teachers of their kids during the early years. The responsibility of teaching doesn't end when a child starts going to school. Often, children will need help in their assignments – in math, science, and social studies. It is the parent's job to show how exciting and useful learning can be.
What is being stressed by the 4 pillars of learning?a. The pillars of learning stress the goal of contributing to social cohesion, intercultural and international understanding, peaceful interchange, and harmony.
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