I came into reading the
article Involving Parents and the Community,
by Samway and McKeon, with a couple of presumptions. First and
foremost, the information regarding L2 parents and lack of
translators being provided for them came as a surprising update to
me. I have been placed in schools that have a large population of
students with parents or legal guardians that did not speak English
as their first language through my college career, and at every
social event involving parents there were always translators on site
willing to assist in the communication process. Even around the
school documents were written, printed, posted, etc. all around in
different languages to accommodate for everyone equally, and set a
very welcoming tone to everyone. So when I read that these parents
“are often marginalized if there is no attention paid to the need
for translators and printed information in languages other than
English” came as a shock to me because I had never really gotten a
chance to experience a school environment that didn't
provide these types of things for L2 parents (Samway and McKeon 164).
My
second presumption was that teachers would understand that parents,
by their very nature, should and do care about their child's
education and even if they do not answer the phone or come to
conferences it was probably for a good reason like not being able to
get out of work finding a babysitter. And to my surprise the article
actually discusses complaints from teachers who come to the
conclusion that L2 parents do not
care about their child's education from the reasons I previously
mentioned. I am hopeful that those with this mindset are able to read
this article, or at least have some form of communication arrangement
that I have been so fortunate to have in my placement, so that they
may better understand what it is like to walk a mile in their shoes.
This
article also sent me back to my childhood. Through reading this the
same thoughts kept surfacing about the nature in which I was raised
by my parents, their involvement in my schooling, and the culture in
which I grew up in. From the beginning my parents always taught me to
be open minded about other cultures and to not always expect everyone
to come from the same background as me, so when I read articles like
this it makes me wonder what type of environment people who
perpetuate the myths presented grew up in and where they come from in
life. Thinking along the lines of “it's impossible for us to
involves parents of ELL students more as most of our teachers are
monolingual English speakers” sent me right back to my knowledge of
my schools incorporation of translators to help collaborate with
parents.
One of
the only sections of the article I had difficulties with was when it
talked about home visits. Call it greenhorn nature, but I have not
reached that level yet. I am still dipping my toes into the waters of
teaching and have only recently created strong bonds with my
students, let alone their parents. I have only briefly interacted
with a few of my students parents, and even then it was at
parent/teacher conferences. I feel like this will be something I am
going to try and hit hard when I start full-time teaching, but I am
unfamiliar with the steps involved with home visits, what I would say
or even reasons for why I would visit them at their homes in the
first place. From reading this article I can clearly see that parents
appreciate home visits, for the most part as there are always
outliers, as it shows the level of care being put in by the teacher.
But as a student teacher I don't really see it as my place to make
house visits. Yet. Eventually I will develop a sense for this sort of
thing and be able to tell when and if this is the right thing to do.
This semester is meant for growth and I intend to make the most out
of it and will definitely utilize this articles teachings over and
over again.
Samway,
Katherine Davies and Denise McKeon.
Myths
and Realites: Best Practices for English Language Learners. 2nd
ed. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann,
2007.
