Catherine,
I enjoyed your research on this topic. It is important that we as educators take into account the cultural background of all of our students, but we must be especially aware and sensitive to those of our students with special needs. In many cases, the school setting is where parents learn that their child is in need of special education. In some cases, like Asian-Americans, as you mention, that fact could be minimized, with the expectation that their child will conform to cultural norms. In others, especially in impoverished areas, parents might feel intimidated by the system, as they might not feel they have the intellectual capital necessary to ask questions.
Part of the difficulty in breaking through these cultural barriers may also be historic: In Chapter five of "Education for All," minorities, specifically African-Americans, Latino-Americans, and Native Americans have all experienced discrimination in our Education System, and sadly, this continues to a certain extent today. You only need to look at case law - Johnson v. San Francisco Unified School District (1971), Larry P. v. Riles (1972), Diana v. California State Board of Education (1970), and Guadalupe Organization v. Tempe Elementary School District (1972) - to see discrimination in the system. And before you dismiss those cases as being too far in the past, remember, many of those who were affected by these rulings are of an age to have children in school today, and cultural memories run deep.As well, Congress has admitted that minorities are still disproportionately represented to this day.
So, how do we bridge that trust gap? Your suggestions go a long way toward fostering that trust between parent - teacher and parent - administration that is so critical to helping the student. I especially liked the suggestion that the teacher learn just a few simple phrases in a parent's language can go a long way in establishing rapport, which can eventually bring trust. I had an experience like that with a student I was tutoring to take the SAT. She went to a Private Academy in Massachusetts, which are notoriously stressful, and on top of that, she was an exchange student from Germany. (As a bit more background, I had taken German in High School, about 10 years before our meeting). As English was not her native tongue, she was having difficulty with the Verbal Part of the exam. One of the word pairs in the comparison portion of the test was "Bat:Mammal", and she would have to choose the answer that showed the same relationship.She was stuck on "bat." It could have been that it was spring, and baseball was beginning, coupled with the issue that the word has multiple meanings, but she could not make the relationship work. I dug into my memories - "surely there is a word for bat" - and I remembered (die fledermaus). When I relayed the word, her face lit up, and she was able to complete the task. Prior to our subsequent meetings I would look ahead at the lesson plan, to see if there were words that might cause an issue. If there were, I would attempt to translate the word or phrase. I would also carry a German/English dictionary to help with the words I might have missed. As a result, my student and I had great sessions, and she performed quite well on the test. Because I was willing to exert some effort, she became more interested in succeeding and engaged me with more enthusiasm. My point is thus: just by making the effort, you are showing respect to those parents and their culture, from which you can build trust and bridge the cultural divide.
Once again, I really enjoyed your work! It seems to me that you have a great future ahead of you. Good Luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment