Ask Señora Lopez is a new column written by Señora Lopez, the author of "Latina-ish" The blog. You can also follow her on twitter @latinaish
Buen provecho...
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Hello Señora Lopez!
I work and live in a culturally diverse rural community in Iowa. Currently, I am an Educational Sign Language Interpreter. While working in the education field, I am finding that educators are having a difficult time bridging the gap between our local Latino and Anglo groups. Our school district has many parent meetings to get the Latino population involved, with interpreters available, but very few show up. At parent teacher conferences there is a low turn out. My question is, how does the Latino population feel about education here in the United States? In your opinion, what could we as the Anglo population do to bridge these gaps?
Thank you Señora!
Señora Lopez responds:
First of all, thank you for the work that you do and for caring enough to ask this question. Encouraging parental involvement in their children's education is one of the most frustrating things educators face. The difference between a child with involved parents, and one without, is tremendous, and it's often heartbreaking for teachers to see such a discrepancy, to see the child's potential, but know that they're limited in the impact they can make in that child's life since a teacher's time and resources are already stretched thin.
The problem of parental involvement is not unique to just Latinos, but the linguistic and cultural barriers that often exist when children are first generation Americans, can make a difficult situation even more difficult.
The Latino community is very diverse, so there aren't any hard and fast truths. I will be speaking in generalizations, with the understood warning that this may not apply to all situations and families.
Having said that, generally speaking, there is a misconception that Latino parents don't value education. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most native Spanish speaking parents are proud that their children are going to school in American schools and learning English. The parents are also at times simultaneously intimidated as they watch their children bring home text books and homework they themselves can not understand. If parents are undocumented this only deepens the problem as they may also be distrustful and wary of any government institution.
There are many tips out there for educators looking to increase parental involvement, but here are a few which will help you target parents who speak only Spanish.
* Make a good first impression. Before the first day of school even begins, touch base with the parents. Find out as much as you can about their home situation without making them uncomfortable. (What language is spoken at home? How many siblings does your student have? Are both parents living in the home? Do they both work? Does someone work two or even three jobs? What days/hours are best to contact them?) Don't forget to ask them if they have questions for YOU. (Don't forget to SMILE!)
* Make yourself accessible. Give them your E-mail address and multiple phone numbers to reach you. Tell them they are always welcome in the classroom and have activities throughout the year which you personally invite them to. If the parents don't come to you - go to them! Tell them you would like to speak with them about how great their child is doing, and set up a home visit. If they seem uncomfortable with you coming to their home - invite them to yours.
* Have materials that are sent home, (such as a welcome letter at the beginning of the year), translated to Spanish on the reverse side. Avoid using online translators which are prone to mistakes, and use a real human to write the translation for you if possible. Send home a weekly newsletter that tells them what your class is learning about.
* Ask administrators to consider free ESL classes held at the school in the evenings and then let the parents know about the program.
* Realize that even if materials are translated, you may run into another problem - illiteracy. In this case, phone calls to the parent with the help of a translator may work better. If the parent picks the child up from school in person, try talking to them face-to-face.
* If no translator is available at your school or he/she is already over-worked, use the children! The children are bilingual and can assist you in speaking with their parents. Just be aware that if you are trying to deliver news about poor behavior or failing grades, kids are clever and things may get "lost in translation" (wink wink.)
* Everyone loves a compliment. Study the parent's native country with your students and ask them to come in and share a story, tradition or food with the class. You could even start an informal Spanish class and ask the parent to come in once a week as a co-teacher.
* Use positive reinforcement. Give recognition to parents who make an effort to participate. Make them "Parent of the Week" and give them a reward, or simply write a 'thank you' note and tell them how much their child has benefited from their involvement.
* While attendance at PTA meetings and parent-teacher conferences is desirable, don't admit defeat if they don't show up. Try to connect to them outside of scheduled events which they just may not be able to attend due to their work schedule.
* The Latino community is usually well connected - especially the mothers of children at the same school. If one of the parents speaks English better than the rest, ask her to serve as a liaison to deliver messages to the others.
* Ask administrators to put up a bulletin board in the lobby where both English and Spanish announcements can be posted. Parents can read the announcements at their leisure while waiting to pick up their child.
* If parents are unable to help their child with homework due to language barriers, ask if there is an older sibling at home that can be recruited, or create an after school homework program where classmates can work together as groups or as tutors.
In the end, it takes two to tango. You can do everything in your power to encourage parent involvement, but ultimately if they choose not to do their part, you should not take that as a personal failure. At the same time, one should avoid harsh judgment of the parent as we can not totally understand their circumstances and what influenced their decision.
In this case, you must do the best with what you have and work directly with the child to encourage good behavior and work habits while providing them as many resources as possible so that they can work towards a successful school career despite the barriers.
Do you have a tip to share, please leave a comment and share your tips with us.
I'm happy to say that most of these things are currently done in my school system! I'm always happy to see information sent home in Spanish and my son was even evaluated for language classes because it is required to list all languages spoken at home so all children can be helped!
Posted by: Mama | July 19, 2010 at 11:02 AM
Senora, well done! Good luck with the column!
Posted by: Carrie at Tiki Tiki Blog | July 21, 2010 at 07:13 AM