The culturally competent teacher involves and works with families and community resources, understanding the differences in families, the important influence of family participation in students’ learning, and benefit of collaboration with the wider school community.
If I were the teacher of the classroom that I volunteer in I imagine that I would come across a lot of challenges. I might come across challenges with the parents of the students in the classroom because some of them could speak another language. The language barrier would cause challenges in telling them how their children are doing in the class. If an issue came up with a student in the class and if I needed to talk to a parent that does not speak English it would cause problems of knowing how to communicate what I need to the parents. To address these challenges I might want to have another teacher that speaks that language come in with me to the conference between the student’s parents and me. Another way I could address this could be to have some background in the language to be able to have some way to communicate with the parents even though it would still be difficult. Another challenge I could have with the parents could be that the parents do not want to be involved in their child’s school life and don’t have any cares or worries about how their children are doing in school. If I have an issue with the student that needs to be talked about with the parents also but the parents don’t care about how their children are doing in school then there is no point in confronting the parents about it. I would want to respect anything that the parent feels is right for their child but also want them to know what I feel is right for my students. Also if any parent is concerned about what I am teaching or the way that I am teaching their children then I would try to make the parents feel as comfortable as possible with me as a teacher.
As part of the No Child Left Behind there are four pillars and one part of those four pillars is more choices for parents. This gives parents more opportunity to have more say in their children’s education. If they are a part of a low performing school then the parents have the option to be able to transfer their child to a better performing public school within the district. If a parent decides to do this then the district must provide transportation for that child to be able to get to that school. This works well for low income families who want their children to be able to go to a good school because they want their child to achieve academically.
Hi Kim!
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you with the many challenges you mentioned in your blog. Every family is different and acceptance is a huge role in a teacher’s life. Yes, it would be very difficult to talk to a parent who does not speak English. You have come up with a very good point! I did not think of having another teacher that speaks that language come in with me to the conference between the student’s parents and me. Not to think negatively, but I would be concerned about not having another teacher around that knows that certain language. There is always a possibility! I like your second way of addressing this certain issue. That would take a lot of time and patience to learn a variety of different languages, but if you are willing to do so that is excellent. I agree with you 100% when you stated "If I have an issue with the student that needs to be talked about with the parents also but the parents don’t care about how their children are doing in school then there is no point in confronting the parents about it.” If the parents of the children don’t seem to care about education, then you have to make it known to the students that education is important. If the parent does not want to be bothered with their child’s education, the child needs to know that education is a huge part of society and it is a necessity to succeed. In the mean time, yes you do need to respect anything that the parent feels is right for their child. As a teacher, you have to be open minded to ideas and situations that you can handle, gain knowledge and learn from.
Your connection to No Child Left Behind was a great connection for this blog. I agree with your opinion on one of the four pillars dealing with more choices for parents. The parents do have the choice where to send their child to school. Whether the parents care to send their children to a public school or a private school is their own choice. The parents of these children have say to where their children will receive an education. Therefore, yes the district must find a way provide transportation for that child to be able to get to that school. All children should be able to go to a high performing school because they deserve an education just like everyone else.
This blog was amazing. Good job Kim!
Hi Kim,
ReplyDeleteYou mention parents that might not care about their children's education. Although that scenario is not impossible, I suspect that teachers make hasty assumptions as to parents' concerns. I would encourage you to resist the notion that parents do not care about their children. What might look to us like a lack of concern might be intimidation or lack of academic resources.
Keep thinking about these important matters,
Dr. August
I agree with you on the challenges you talked about that can cause problems for you as a teacher. The linguistic barrier is always going to be a major challenge in any classroom. I liked how you would have gone about working around the problem of the language barriers by having a translator present for meetings. To me this shows that you are trying to communicate the with the parents in what you are doing in the classroom and giving them an insight on the education you plan on giving to their children. How you relate this to the No Child Left Behind law is very good. You state that the parents should have a say in what is happening in the classrooms. I feel as though schooling is a very important part of a persons life so the more that their parents are involved in what they will be learning the more the children will gain from it.
ReplyDelete