Laura Gillett

Culture & Inclusion

Week 3 - Students and Parents Assignment

I make a conscious effort to learn about the cultural, linguistic, religious, and educational backgrounds of my
students and their families. I have a very diverse group of students in my classroom this year, and the diversity
in my class is reflective of the diversity at my school site. When I get my class list at the beginning of the year, I
make a point to look up as much information as possible about my students and their families. I teach special
education and all of the students in my class go through an intake and assessment process before they are
placed in a classroom, and each student has an IEP. I am able to use the Multidisciplinary Assessment Report
and the IEP of each student to learn a little about each child’s background. Through these reports, I am able to
learn the home language of each student, as well as the educational background of each student. It takes
longer to learn about the cultural background and religious background of each family. Some families share
readily and others choose not to share or share little bits about themselves over time. I try to use different
forms of communication to learn about my students and their families. We always have an open house at the
beginning of the year, I see families at drop-off and pick-up, I use email and a classroom app to communicate,
I send surveys, we engage in family events at the school site, I meet with families for conferences and for IEP
meetings. I agree with Purcell-Gates when she talks about the idea that parents are experts when it comes to
their own children - they know the most about their children and they are their child’s first teacher. Eighty
percent of my students are English learners or exposed to a language other than English at home, so there is
often a language barrier between myself and my families. Since I work with preschool-age students, each
child’s family plays a huge role in the child’s education and I am in constant contact with my families. I do work
hard to learn about each of my students and build a relationship with each family. In his article, ​Transforming
Urban Schools Through Investments in the Social Capital of Parents​, Noguera spoke about the partnership
between schools and families - “...when school and a community have formed a genuine partnership based on
respect and a shared sense of responsibility, positive forms of social capital can be generated.” The words
genuine and respect really stood out to me. I sometimes see other staff members pull back from families and
have very surface-level interactions, sometimes engaging in conversations about families that perpetuate
stereotypes. By no means do I know everything about my families or forge the best relationships, but I do strive
to get to know my families as people, not as the parents of my students.

Getting to know my students’ backgrounds greatly impacts my work in the classroom and my interactions with
students and families. I get to know my students’ developmental levels and rate of learning and this allows me
to meet each student at his level and challenge his learning appropriately to build skills. As I learn about the
home language of each family, it shapes the way I communicate with them; some families prefer face-to-face
conversations and others prefer communication through my classroom app as it translates into the home
language. Though each family is unique regardless of background, learning about each family's culture allows
me to get a general idea of educational expectations and developmental expectations. Some cultures have
different expectations of potty-training or self-help skills or have different expectations of education and school.
Building relationships with my families also allows us to have more positive and productive IEP meetings. Nel
Noddings discussed the idea of inviting parent involvement, as opposed to mandating parent involvement.
Knowing my families allows me to engage families in meaningful involvement that is suited to the family. I
believe that getting to know students and families is one of the most important things an educator can do - that
knowledge impacts and enhances every part of the job we do.

I know that I still have a lot to do when it comes to involving and engaging my families in their children’s
education. I also know that I can’t do it alone; it is important for a school site as well as a district to recognize
the importance of family engagement. While I definitely have a lot of knowledge about my students and their
backgrounds, much of that knowledge is still surface level for me, and my own background plays a role in that.
I would like to engage with families in the community, where they are probably more comfortable. Last year, I
had a playdate for my students and their families in the community and it was one of the best experiences I’ve
ever had with my classroom families. I got to know things about my students that I wouldn’t have otherwise
known and my families made genuine connections with each other - they began to build a new parent
community that they will be able to carry forward as their children grow together. As a small step forward, I
would like to set up more opportunities like this for community building. Overall, I feel that I will get out what I
put in; if I am open, genuine and respectful with my families, they will be more likely to reciprocate and that can
open the door to engaging and empowering families to be active participants not only in their own child’s
education but the education of the community.