The Community
I would be lying if I said I had never complained about a parent spending too much time in the classroom or at the school or one that never comes and shows any kind of support at all for their child’s educational success. Every teacher has complained about one of these two things, if not both before. On p. 385 it reads, “Whereas educators stress participation in organized school events and parents who keep up with the details of lessons, parents often see the care, support, encouragement, and cultural values they give their children as the foundation for their success in school.” I found this interesting because as so many of us complain that the parents aren’t working with their children at home, sometimes we forget to stop and think about the time in which those parents have with their children while their not working trying to put support their wellbeing. They lend their support to their children by saying words of encouragement to them, caring for them, and instilling their values and beliefs within them. It would be interesting to walk in their shoes…maybe we would understand a little better and maybe some would care a little more.
It is important to show parents that you care about their child. I read on p. 386, “Hard work and patience are essential. Parents may not respond immediately to teachers’ goodwill and invitation to become an active part of their children’s success in class.” Just as one doesn’t run before walking, relationships take time to form and maintenance is needed to contain them. Some things that I do that make a positive difference is call parents and tell them something positive about their child. Not only does this make the child feel good, but the parent takes ownership in the behavior as well. The parent won’t cringe the next time you introduce yourself on the other line of the phone call and wonder what terrible thing their child did to deserve a phone call home. A new thing our school just started is sending positive postcards recognizing students through the mail. All postage is paid for by the school and it only takes a minute to write a positive note acknowledging a good deed or task done by the student. Wouldn’t you just love to see that student’s face when the parent brings that postcard to the child and reads it? Wouldn’t you love to see the parent’s face? Both of these things let the parents and the students know you care and by showing that, you are developing a trusting parent/teacher relationship.
I read on p. 399, “Learning from families and community members enhances teachers’ capacity to care, but care is not only about “knowing”; it requires doing as well. W.E.B. DuBois addressess this crucial element of care. He instructs teachers to reach back in time and acknowledge the history of their students’ and community’s social circumstances.” He calls this notion…”sympathetic touch.” He continues to go through three qualities of care that “bridge schools and communities” (p.399) If you read through these qualities, you will find (as I did) that they mirror the Critical Child Project that we are doing for this class. My question is, however, while I feel it is important to understand the culture of our children critically, is it feasible to do a cultural in-depth study of each student in ones class? How can we understand each of our students culture (history, aspirations, values, etc.) if time is not permitted to actually do an in-depth study? What is the alternative? Is the culture quilt assignment something that we as teachers can utilize to learn more about our students culture or is there more? I wish I had a checklist that I could pull out to assist me in my culturally responsive teaching.
One last thing I found interesting and made note of was the response Mary Ann Pecheco gave to some parents on p. 401 when they were concerned that their child was talking too much. She responded by saying, “in higher education, the willingness to initiate conversations, participation in group projects, and dialogue were required of students and highly valued.” What a great response! I think I may actually use that response in a parent/teacher conference…but it so true! As students ourselves, we all know how important it is to initiate conversations, participate in group projects, and carry on dialogue during conversations. While some of us don’t do this often…that doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t have a lot to say. :0)
