Week 2 #ptcamp

From "Beyond the Bake Sale":

Core Belief #1: "All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them" (p. 28)
Having spent most of my teaching experience in urban Cincinnati - I struggle with this core belief. I don't disagree that parents have dreams for their children and in most cases want a better life for them - the reality was/is even in suburban Northern Kentucky - the opportunity to break the cycle of generational poverty isn't very attainable.
I taught students who had never left the state of Ohio (and lived 5 minutes from the Ohio river to cross into Kentucky). Students who had at least one family member - at some time of their lives in the prison system (sometimes the students themselves).
Education, while valued, didn't open many doors - even if a diploma provided higher pay - it didn't provide enough to move away. Leaving your family wasn't valued - so in essence you become stuck.
The community school and the city structure was a big topic during my doctoral studies. In years past, teachers, workers, doctors and stay at home parents all lived in the same community that fed the community school. Socio-economic segregation hadn't happened - and the community was stronger for the diversity. While parents and students dream of a brighter future - the families I serve - have years of language learning to master before they can begin to dream about their future - literally dreaming in English.
My own children (adopted from Taiwan) have almost forgotten their Mandarin Chinese. It saddens me that their global advantage has now been diminished as they are no longer bilingual. As they became immersed into English (almost as a necessity to learn quickly) they made the conscious and unconcsious decicison to abandon their mother tongue.
I wonder what other sacrifices students are asked to make to allow their "American dreams" to become reality?
Core Belief #2: “All parents have the capacity to support their children’s learning” (p. 32)
Years ago a parent conference occurred for an Hispanic student in the second grade. A translator was not present (although needed). I had 2 years of history with this parent and knew how she worked outside of the home to help support her family of 4 (baby on the way). The student had a reading disability and yet was one of the most diligent students I had every worked with. After sharing the students’ progress – and areas of need, the parent asked how she could help at home. She could rely on her older child (5^th grade) to support her younger child in reading and math, yet she was illiterate and couldn’t assist. We shared how asking questions about her work – or asking questions about the story (using pictures to guide the questions) would help the student engage in her homework. The special education teacher shared goals/growth.
After the conference, one of the teachers laughed as she relayed how all the data she just shared with the mother was in fact for a different student.
“It’s a good thing mom can’t read”, the teacher added, “she’ll never know I made that mistake”.
Parents support their children by sending them to school daily. How often do we comment at school that the children who have the most need are there every day!
Core Belief #3: “Parents and school staff should be equal partners” (p. 36).
“Everyone has something to offer and everyone should get something positive out of the relationship”…

Schools that tap into the strengths of their students, parents, and communities will build

an additive school model (as opposed to a deficit model) that will reap benefits for generations to

come.

This has caused me to pause and think – and I’m stuck recalling a conversation with a family I interviewed a few years back. They related that when they sent their children to school they trusted us as professionals to take care of the schooling part, the academic part. When the student came home it was family time. So I share an excerpt from my dissertation that I believe is on topic here:

Home–school expectations

The value parents have for education was a re-occurring theme in the stories of the participants. There is an underlying assumption that Hispanic parents have a low value on their children’s

education due to their lack of participation in school events, and limited communication with school staff (Cavazos, Cavazos, Hinojosa & Silva, 2009). In fact, this assumption is better termed a ‘mistaken belief’. This thought is echoed by Waterman (2008), who found that “Mexican immigrant parents do [emphasis added] place a high value on education and supporting their children’s success in U.S. schools” (p. 144). While Hispanic culture might appear to other cultures as unsupportive due to their physical absence on the school campus, one viable reason voiced by parents was they had entrusted the education of their children with the school. Mrs. R. (a parent) commented about the teachers at Central saying: “They are very educated and know a lot more than many teachers in other countries. I love the teachers here, because they are so smart.” All parents conveyed their belief that their role was to support with homework at home. Previous research has described the misconception that parents must not value education due to a lack of visible participation. This is an example of ‘deficit thinking.’ In Castro Atwater’s (2008) study of skin color and its impact on teacher expectations; she found that: Teachers shared a vision of the children’s Hispanic culture as a ‘deficit’ to their success. The study revealed that this deficit thinking affected teachers’ contact with and beliefs about their Hispanic students in the form of antipathy, resentment and low academic expectations. (p. 248)

Mr. B. and Mrs. C., the administrators of Central Elementary, do not buy into the deficit thinking shared in the above excerpt. In fact when speaking of expectations, both administrators voiced that their expectations of ELL students were just as high as they were for all other students. This expectation was passed down to all staff members, to ensure that the entire educational community shared the same beliefs that academic and social success could be attained for all students. Mr. B. shared his firm belief that parents have demonstrated their value

of their children’s education by attending school events, but also by helping with homework

(even if in limited ways). He added, “You can see that with the parents that are coming in, they

really do want what’s best for their child.”

Parents also shared their value of education when examining how important their own

education had been to them. Even if the educational systems and experiences were different, the

expectation of hard work and respect for teachers was being instilled by the parents. Mr. R.

shared that:  One of the things that I remember from when I was young about the school was a time when I got a bad note and had to take it home. I knew that my father would be angry and punish me. And I knew that I had to get good grades. Mr. and Mrs. R. spoke highly of the teachers at Central and how qualified they believed them to be. This led them to defer to the

ones who knew best (better than they did) - the teachers. They were entrusting the education of

their children into the hands of the ones who had the “expertise.”

When parents have little or no formal schooling, parents respond by accepting that the school is better positioned to transmit knowledge that is validated in the wider community. As a result, they rely on the school to educate their children. The school and the teachers, in turn, infer a lack of parental involvement. (Peterson & Heywood, 2007, p. 28)

Even so, parents accepted their responsibility of showing support for their students.

Some parents like Mr. and Mrs. M. chose to provide their students with a monetary reward for

good grades, while others were trying to learn English so that they could be a better support at

home with homework. Mrs. T. remarked that “we should learn it [English], so that we

understand.” This mutual effort helps bridge the existing gap between home and school. Mrs. C.

shared her view that parental support at home, combined with the efforts at school by teachers

Mrs. C. shared her view that parental support at home, combined with the efforts at school by teachers and administrators have the most effect on students’ success. Waterman (2008) speaks to this home-school connection by saying, “Existing research reveals their [parental] high value of education and their strong commitment to support their children to be well educated, both

academically and socially” (p. 158). Parent involvement is oftentimes hindered not only by the language barrier of parents not knowing enough English, but also by school personnel not knowing enough Spanish. Parent involvement is an expectation that administrators and teachers both have regarding the schooling of children. Parent involvement has multiple meanings and the term is “widely used in school and in research, yet with many different interpretations,” (Waterman, 2008, p. 146). For purposes of this discussion, the term ‘parent involvement’ will include parent support at home as well as parent presence and participation at school events.

Some of these events include: attending parent–teacher conferences, cultural events, and adult English classes. There is an expectation that parents will communicate educational concerns or changes that occur in home life with school. Mrs. C. shared that the importance of communicating expectations was to “keep each other informed so that you can support it

[the education of students].”

7

Data retrieved from School Report card can be found on the State’s Department of Education website. A full

citation cannot be provided without breaking confidentiality.

FULL DISSERTATION CAN BE FOUND HERE: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=ucin1307323283&disposition=inline

Core Belief #4: “The Responsibility for Building Partnerships Between School and Home Rests primarily with school staff, especially school leaders” (p. 39).

I whole heartedly agree – however this relationship needs to be established early and nurtured throughout the years. This cultural shift needs to happen from leadership through all staff and monitored. Pulse checks for staff bias regarding this partnership should occur throughout the year. This is an easy area to slack off in responsibility as priorities shift to the classroom – however classroom successes won’t happen without this partnership. A well oiled machine needs constant “oiling”!