If I am the teacher of this classroom where I must work with families and the community I would most likely come through many challenges. First of all dealing with parents and having them participate in school an activity is difficult enough, you must convince them and tell them the importance of it. If the parents don’t speak fluent English this may make it a more difficult task. If they ever have to help the student with their homework they must first understand English, what the task at hand is asking, and then translating it so they understand it in their language.
Building a wider school community is helpful for the students. Trying to get this altogether can benefit the students future, but it must be condoned to all parents. Being this culturally competent teacher I must reach out to all different backgrounds that the parents of these students may have and try to convince them to participate. I could address these problems by maybe getting a translator or a teacher assistant to translate what I say so that the parents can understand so they may ponder whether or not to participate.
I could show respect by letting them know that it could be difficult because having a job and trying to learn the English language could be a tough task. I could also tell those reasons how this could benefit their child’s future so they don’t have to go through any struggles when they are older. Maybe having a few open house events could be beneficial because it could give the parents an overview of what goes on in the classroom and how the students are doing. If they parents show up to these they may be interested in helping out their child and building this community
The theorist that I could relate this prompt to is Lisa Delpit. Delpit was all about participation in the classroom and outside of it. She also talked about how students can be teachers. And I thought if the parents get involved then maybe they can teach me a thing or two about their background. I can become a well-rounded teacher and I could help out the students more efficiently. Participation is key and if these parents and the community participated this could influence a better future and a better learning experience for these students.
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Taking Dewey into account, addressing the issues surrounding community participation in education is a vital step toward building a democratic education. Since the measure of a society is based on not only its own goals but the extent to which it cooperates with other societies, the society of educators, towards which we are all working to become members, becomes stronger through interaction with the community, parents, and other groups of people. So, too, does this increase the number of goals and interests of educators, which also increases their societal well-being. This sort of conjoint communication is necessary to democracy and, as such, should be necessary to a democratic education.
ReplyDeleteHi Matt,
ReplyDeleteYou have proposed some interesting ideas to elicit parent participation. Delpit would certainly have much to say on this. You mentioned her point that students are experts on their lives. That is a great beginning. I wish you had extended this discussion. Her central point is that we don't listen to the parents and teachers from non-dominant groups.
Keep thinking on these things,
Dr. August