Essay 2: Partnering WITH

Partnering with families, especially those of English language learners can be a challenge

that educators are now realizing requires and also yields a wealth of creative strategies. After

reading the article “Parent and Community Involvement in Bilingual and Multilingual

Education” as well as talking to my practicum teacher, it has become clear that partnership

requires a strengths-based mindset that involves not just the school and families, but also the

community.

One of the biggest misconceptions about partnership in bilingual and multilingual

education is that parents in culturally and linguistically diverse families do not value

involvement or are not invested in their child’s education. On the contrary, the article notes that

many cultures value the role of teachers as professionals and see it as disrespectful to be involved

in a teacher’s space. This understanding is just one of many that teachers should understand

about their classroom. By first understanding how classroom involvement is viewed by families,

teachers can then assess what changes need to be made to be more culturally responsive and

inviting to CLD families. Just as a school would with a student, assessing literacy in first and

second language in families is another method of responding to CLD opportunities. When

information and invitations are sent home in a familiar language with tips on how to be involved

in the school life of a student, families will feel more valued and understood and can help be on

the team advocating for the success of their child. This puts some initial work on schools to be

reaching out to families and can be intimidating in the face of preconceived notions about

traditional school involvement. By recognizing that changes in populations means changes in

types of involvement, schools can critically reflect on their traditional notions of involvement

which tend to include ideas such as: learning at home, parenting fluidity between home and
classroom, parents as volunteers, and parents as teachers. By understanding how schools

traditionally view parental involvement, teachers can readjust their thinking about what it means

to have a strong connection between families and schools.

Community involvement in schools also provides a safer space for CLD families to

interact with one another and the school. Community Based Organizations (CBOs) can serve as a

bridge over the intimidating waters of home-school involvement. CBOs can be an extra step in

closing the gap between traditional expectations of family involvement and newer, more

culturally responsive methods of involvement. These organizations can provide workshops in

native languages and help identify funds of knowledge held by families. These funds can turn

into parents coming into the classroom to share and even using native language to enhance

classroom instruction. CBOs also have more resources to dedicate to barriers that keep families

out of schools such as transportation and childcare. Furthermore, these organizations can provide

a less intimidating platform for parents to communicate with each other and school officials who

can then capitalize on the strengths and cultural views of families to make a more culturally

responsive school that melds traditional American values with the values of culturally and

linguistically diverse students and their families. Focusing on strengths and resources is the key

to more inclusive familial involvement and teachers of CLD students have a duty to identify and

support these families as valuable members of their classroom.

As a future educator, I plan on incorporating the cultures of students in my teaching of

history and observing CBOs and organizations like CBOs to understand the strengths and

resources of my students and their families. Teaching social studies offers a unique opportunity

to blend many cultures into instruction and I plan on establishing communication with families

that invites that knowledge to be shared in classes. I understand that the first step in facilitating
involvement is consciously unlearning my preconceived notions of what family involvement

looks like in the classroom and shifting towards a more culturally responsive model that

acknowledges and accommodates the various cultures and ideas in my classroom. In practice,

this looks like intentional communication with families from the start of the school year about

events and student work that is presented in a way that facilitates two-way communication as

opposed to just the school sending information home. Culturally responsive family involvement

also looks like meeting parents at a place that is accessible to them; Not every parent will be able

to come into the classroom during the work week but communicating in the home language and

still making an effort to reach out to parents whose availability may be sporadic is essential in

validating that their efforts are still valuable to the classroom even if their involvement is

nontraditional. Part of effective integration of CLD strengths and resources also looks like

becoming the audience. By attending events and asking questions, teachers can learn about the

families in their classrooms and can show support for families by attending and engaging in

events put on by families and CBOs

Partnering with families is going to look different in every school and classroom.

However, teachers of CLD students have extra opportunities to learn and engage with the

cultures and home lives of their students so long as they are willing to open their minds to the

funds of knowledge provided by diverse families. This means understanding how classroom

involvement is traditionally viewed and then learning how to leave those traditional ideas behind

and replace them with a more culturally responsive model that focuses on the strengths and

knowledge of each family that comes through the classroom.

 References
Arias, B.M. (2015). Parent and community involvement in bilingual and multilingual education.
The Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education. First Edition. Edited by Wayne
Wright, Sovicheth Boun, and Ofelia Garcia. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.