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Latino Parental Involvement in Children's Education: A Cultural Misconception

Ana Bahamonde

Lehman College
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“Culturally diverse communities have been told through overt and covert avenues that

they are not as good as White students and will not do as well because of their background. They

overhear teachers say things like, ‘Well, you can’t expect anything else from these children.

Their parents don’t care, and they come from transient families” (Diaz, 2001, p.47). The belief

that Latino parents are not involved in their children’s education has been a long time myth

among many teachers and administrators. They have also assumed that Latinos are

underachievers in school because Latino parents do not value education. Unfortunately, even

though Latinos make up the largest ethnic minority group in the United States, a minority that

keeps growing, not enough research has focused on whether these assumptions have any bearing

(Terriquez, 2013).

What constitutes parental involvement? Grolnick and Slowiaczek (1994), define the term

as a dedication of resources by the parent to the child within a given domain. Thus, there is a

difference between parents’ overall involvement with the child and the child’s education.

Grolnick and Slowiaczek (1994) also distinguish three dimensions of involvement: behavioral,

personal, and cognitive. Behavioral consists of parents attending activities such as school events.

Personal involvement refers to parents conveying positive feelings toward school and education.

Finally, the cognitive dimension consists of exposing children to stimulating activities and

experiences such as reading books and visiting museums (Poza, Maneka, & Valdes, 2014).

Clearly, there seems to be an ideological and cultural misconception of what constitutes

parental participation in children’s education. For White people being involved in their

children’s education falls heavily under the behavioral and cognitive categories, which means

parents are visible within the school, attend many school activities throughout the year, and
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volunteer in the classroom. White parents also expose their children to more educational

activities such as visiting libraries, galleries, and museums. Thus for White people, parents who

are involved in their children’s education are mostly committed to enriching the academic

experiences of their children. However, for Latinos parental involvement falls mostly under the

personal dimension. Hence, parental involvement encompasses a much larger domain based on

familismo, a firm Latino cultural value that centers on family ties. Family is the primary source

of support and loyalty, and it takes precedence over one’s personal desires. Familismo also

means “ser educado,” which is literally translated to being educated. But for Latinos, “ser

educado” does not only mean to have a good formal education, but it also means to be respectful,

well mannered, and have high morals (Turcios-Cotto & Milan, 2013). “Ser educado” or

“educacion” also promotes deference to those in power. Therefore, it is not surprising that

Latino parents prefer not to get involved in their children’s school community. Administrators

and teachers represent people in power and culturally “educacion” promotes Latino parents’

silence and passivity toward school personnel who are viewed as professionals whose authority

should not be questioned.

According to Poza, Maneka, and Valdes (2014), Latino parents view education as a

combination of social, religion, and family activities, as opposed to an isolated concept involving

academics. Their research study irrefutably contests the belief that Latino parents are apathetic

and negligent towards their children’s education. Instead, schooling for Latinos is only one way

for children to learn the skills, values, traits that will make them positive members of society.

Furthermore, Latino parents view modeling as an intrinsic part of their children’s education.

Thus, if immigrant parents are working two jobs to support the family and on top of that they are

attending school to learn English or even obtain professional certification, they are
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role modeling important traits for their children to emulate. Most importantly, Latino parents

believe that investing in their own education will allow them to provide better support for their

children’s learning as well as exemplify the importance of education and hard work. The study

conducted by Poza, Maneka, and Valdes (2014) also reveals that many parents had immigrated

to the United States to offer their children better educational and future opportunities than they

could have offered their children if they had stayed in their home countries. In addition, the

study showed that many Latino immigrant parents do not attend school events because they

prefer to consult outside sources such as relatives, friends, and neighbors, who have had more

experience in the American school system. Latino parents also get their children involved in

several afterschool programs such as church groups, sports, or even special educational support

to complement their children’s holistic education.

Durand and Perez (2014), in their qualitative study, found that Latino parents, regardless

of their demographic characteristics, view the role of parenting in three main dimensions. Parents

must act like teachers and support children in schoolwork; parents are moral guides; and they

also function like role models of good behavior.

Consequently, the current research studies indicate that Latino parents are very much

involved in their children’s education, but they are invested in different ways that are not usually

recognized by mainstream American society.

Even though Latino parents are involved in their children’s education on a personal

dimension, Latinos do fail to integrate Grolnick’s and Slowiaczek’s (1994) cognitive and

behavioral dimensions. Thus, an interesting question arises: Why are Latino parents unable to

amalgamate all aspects of parental involvement in order to make Latino students successful in
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high school? The answer is clear. Latinos face many obstacles that limit their overall

involvement in their children’s education.

Latinos in the U.S. make up two-thirds of the country’s poor (Tinkler, 2002), and this is

the main reason their involvement in the personal and cognitive levels is deficient. Parents from

a lower socioeconomic status will feel inadequate in interacting with teachers or school

administrators, who are perceived as being from a higher social class. Moreover, many Latino

parents have not completed a high school education themselves. For example in Mexico,

compulsory education goes only up to middle school (Gandara & Contreras, 2009), and many are

even forced to leave earlier because they must financially help support their families. Due to

Latino parents’ lack of formal education, these parents struggle to help their children with

homework, especially if their children have surpassed their parents’ school grade level (Baeza,

2012).

Another obstacle for Latino parents is language. Many Latino parents speak little or no

English, and this makes communication between school and home quite challenging. Most of

the school communication that is delivered to parents is written or, nowadays, mostly electronic.

Therefore, if parents do not understand English, or if they do not have a proficient literacy level,

they will be unaware of the school’s expectations on them or even left ignorant on how their

children are performing at school. Even though many children may often act as translators for

their parents, ideally this is not recommended. Sensitive information might be culturally

misunderstood in the translation process or might be manipulated to benefit the child who is in

the position of translator. The language barrier will also make it impossible for parents to work

closely with their children at home in daily assignments or projects (Baeza, 2012).

There are also logistic factors that limit Latino parental involvement within the school.
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For example, many school events take place during work hours and many Latino parents either

work two jobs a day or have inflexible work schedules. Lack of day-care during school

functions and the extra cost for transportation to and from school also pose issues for parents

who might want to attend these events (O'Donnell & Kirkner, 2014).

In addition, discrimination is another obstacle that makes Latino parents feel unwelcome

in their children’s schools. It is a fact that Latinos feel underrepresented in schools since most

teachers are White. Many schools also discourage the use of Spanish both in the classroom and

school. This impediment imposed on Latino students makes Latino families feel they are

inferior and that their culture is undervalued. Moreover, the negative perceptions that many

White teachers and administrators convey about Latinos will also make Latino parents feel

hesitant to step inside the school doors (Baeza, 2012; O'Donnell & Kirkner, 2014).

Latino discrimination is also present in student access to advanced courses. Solorzano

and Ornelas (2002) examined the access of Latino students in Advanced Placement courses.

They analyzed enrollment patterns and the impact of discrimination to access Honors classes.

Their findings revealed that Latinos are underrepresented in such advanced courses mostly

because teachers and administrators have low expectations for Latino students (Baeza 2012).

Unfortunately, schools’ unequal treatment and racial bias towards Latino students is clearly

detected by parents, and this might cause resentment to want to participate in school activities.

Quinones and Marquez Kiyama (2014) conducted a community-based, multisite study

that examined the experiences of Latino students and their families in an urban school in New

York. They found that racism was a frequent issue across focus groups. Students and parents

shared that discrimination impacted their identity development and their sense of belonging in
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the classroom and the school. The study asserts that prejudice and discrimination are not only

present at the school level but also at the district-level. One parent from the study narrated

stories about going to the district offices on numerous occasions to solve issues but was left

feeling like the district was not responsive to his concerns. Other participants recounted their

frustrations with being mistreated by personnel in the Department of Social Services. Clearly,

Latinos often feel invisible within the school system.

Regrettably Latino parents not only suffer from discrimination on a micro level, but they

must also encounter racism on a macro level. Anti-immigration sentiment has been pervasive in

the U.S. and the many policies passed throughout the years is proof of these negative feelings

against Latinos. For example, in 1998 California passed Proposition 227. This policy ended

bilingual education for a state where there is a large majority of Spanish speaking children

(Salinas, 2006). Later, the passing of the NCLB mandate and its stern accountability standards,

demanded immigrant students to become fluent in English

as quickly as possible. Currently, more severe anti-immigration policies have been passed,

especially targeting illegal immigrants. Regardless of Latinos’ immigrant status, these policies

have caused fear, thereby limiting the desire for Latino parents to become involved in the schools

of their children (Boone, 2011; Subramaniam, 2011).

By gaining an understanding of the barriers that exist for Latino immigrant parents,

schools can make the necessary accommodations and bridge the gap that exists between Latino

parents and schools. Many studies such as the revised 2005 Hoover-Dempsey model have

already proposed several ideas. Taking into consideration that Latinos are the fastest growing

ethnic minority in the States, schools should make every effort to help Latino parents

amalgamate both the behavioral and cognitive dimensions of parental involvement.

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In terms of helping parents feel more comfortable in their interaction with teachers and

administrators, schools could offer parents educational workshops on parenting in both English

and Spanish. Other workshops for parents could include teaching them how to support children

with their schoolwork at different stages of the child’s development (Gonzales, Borders, Hines,

& Villalba, 2013). Schools could also become centers where parents can receive free English

classes, as well as Spanish literacy classes. The workshop leaders and teachers for these services

can be obtained on a voluntary basis.

Parents must also believe that school involvement on their part is not only important, but

necessary and that their active participation will make a positive change in their children’s

academic life. Latino parents must first see their involvement in schools as one of their primary

roles to be shared with teachers, as opposed to being the sole responsibility of the teachers. This

change of vision will, of course, require a shift in cultural thinking. Moreover, schools must

eliminate the language barrier in their communication to parents. Schools should offer

translators and interpreters during teacher- parent conferences. Written and electronic forms of

communication should be delivered in both English and Spanish (Gonzales, Borders, Hines, &

Villalba, 2013). Moreover, teachers or counselors should personally invite parents to school

functions. These invitations must be done in both English and Spanish. Additionally, the invites

can be followed up by individual phone calls to parents from a chosen cultural broker that can

help make the values and practices of one group clear to another (Smith-Addock et al., 2006).

These adaptations taken by school authorities will convince parents that schools genuinely want

them to be involved in the educational process.

Latino parents must also be made aware of the specifics of what is expected of them, the

purpose for the meeting, and the timing and structure should be extremely flexible to suit parents
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working schedules. Furthermore, the school should make the necessary efforts to provide

transportation and daycare services for parents (Gonzales, Borders, Hines, & Villalba, 2013).

For example, older students from the school could supervise the younger ones as part of

community service hours. These older students could be motivated to participate by receiving

extra credit points.

Moreover, schools should improve the general atmosphere in order to create inclusion for

Latino families. Schools could invite Latinos to post or exhibit cultural information, posters,

photographs, and even cultural items around the school. Schools could also open their doors

after school hours and allow the community to use school space for cultural events. In this way,

Latino families will feel their culture is valued and appreciated (Gonzales, Borders, Hines, &

Villalba, 2013).

Furthermore, adopting a bilingual and multicultural curriculum can have extremely

positive changes in schools and make the transition for new Latino immigrants, who lack English

proficiency, much easier (Durand & Perez, 2014). Valdés’s (2001) study of middle-school

immigrant students discusses one student’s transformation when he changed schools from one

that viewed bilingualism and home culture as negative factors to a school where these factors

where considered an asset. By providing the student access to the core curriculum with

academic support, the student was able to succeed both academically and socially

Finally, schools as well as universities should provide professional development

workshops and graduate level courses with a focus on anthropological perspectives not only in

curriculum content but also in ethnic participation in the communities or even abroad.

Moreover, teachers and teacher candidates should be made aware of their own cultural
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participation and practices in order to confront their own stereotypes and biases (Poza, Maneka,

& Valdes, 2014). By improving overall teacher education programs, school staff will be less

likely to discriminate against Latinos, and, thus make Advanced Placement courses and the core

curriculum more accessible to the Latino population.

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