Engaging Immigrant Parents as Partners: Part Two Strategies to Build Partnerships

-- Contributed by Eileen Gale Kugler

We are thrilled to publish this two-part series on engaging immigrant parents by Eileen Gale Kugler. In this series, she notes a critical disconnect between many immigrant families and schools and provides practical tips for educators to understand and build valuable partnerships with all parents. To read part one, please click here.

Immigrant parents can be a valuable asset to the school, as motivators and mentors for their own child, as connectors to members of their cultural community and beyond, and as a source of fresh ideas and perspectives for the school. Far too many are disconnected from schools, not understanding fully their role in American schools and not feeling welcome or valued there. Personal outreach that builds relationships, values these parents for their strengths, and targets their specific needs and interests will empower school leaders to build effective partnerships with immigrant families.

A Fresh Look at Parent Engagement

With some 25% of all students in schools today living with at least one immigrant parent, schools need to take a fresh look at parent engagement strategies. Research shows that parent engagement can have a major impact on student success, for students of every background.

Traditional parent involvement programs, like back-to-school nights and parent-teacher conferences, were created decades ago, and they meet the needs of parents who are knowledgeable about and comfortable with the American educational system. Many immigrant families, however, find them overwhelming or intimidating and they do not attend. The result is that some educators may assume that immigrant parents don't care about education. In reality, the education of their children was one of the motivating factors drawing many immigrant families to the U.S.

Strategies to Build Partnerships with Immigrant Parents

Go beyond traditional programs for family involvement. Strategic design of family engagement, based on the background, needs and interests of the specific immigrant families in that community, is essential to build valuable partnerships with immigrant parents. Recognizing that many traditional programs are designed for those already comfortable at the school, educational leaders need to explore non-threatening ways to encourage immigrant parent involvement: a classroom celebration of children’s writing where family members accompany their child; a breakfast with their child before work with a personal moment with the teacher; or a culture-specific program. A welcoming parent center with bilingual staff can provide space for immigrant parents to begin to feel comfortable at school. 

Success of outreach is often measured by the number of attendees, but targeted small group activities can be more welcoming and effective. After parents become comfortable in these meetings, it is important to find ways to connect immigrant families with other families in the school, through classroom-based activities or school-wide projects where families work side-by-side.

Connect parent engagement to academics. While it is important to build personal connections, the engagement cannot stop there. To truly have an impact on student achievement, research shows that there needs to also be a connection to student learning. International dinners can be a welcoming way to bring families into the school, but they don’t need to stop at breaking bread together. One high school in Northern Virginia with immigrants from many cultures turned their dinner into Bravo Night, inviting immigrant graduates from the school to talk about the strategies that enabled them to succeed in college and career.

Programs such as math or literacy nights can provide immigrant parents with insights on classroom learning. For parents who did not have the benefit of quality education themselves, adult literacy classes can build their capacity to support and mentor their children. Immigrant parents – and all parents – can benefit from learning the academic connections of subjects like music, art, and physical education. 

Get out into the community. Some families find it intimidating to just walk through the school doors. Others may be concerned about going to an “official” building, worried about their own immigration status or that of a loved one. Parent meetings can be held in community rooms or at religious institutions in the neighborhood. A meeting at a public library can be a comfortable way to introduce immigrant parents to this valuable resource. Sometimes a lunchroom in a local factory is a great place to connect with parents who can’t leave work.

If your school has a process for conducting home visits, they can be an effective way to build relationships with immigrant families. Many families feel honored that school officials come to their homes. A successful Latina entrepreneur told me her life changed in first grade when the principal visited her home, fostering a stronger connection to the school for the whole family. Pre- and post-visits procedures and tips are essential for a safe, successful home visit so communicate with your school and families prior to commencing a home visit program.  For additional support, please see the Family Engagement Resources from the Flamboyan Foundation and “Carol Sharpe: A View on Home Visits” published on Edutopia.

Rethink the structure of parent-led activities. Parent leaders need to rethink what “welcoming” looks like – beyond a friendly hello when a new person enters the room. To diversify attendance at and leadership of parent groups, leaders can work with teachers and guidance counselors to identify immigrant parents who could become more involved, and then provide support and training. Connecting immigrant parents with long-time parent leaders, as welcoming friends or mentors, can be a powerful way to build relationships. While fundraising is important, if this is the parent group’s major purpose, it can place value on only those parents with the contacts or personal finances to contribute.

Invite families in multiple ways. A simple flyer sent home or a broadly-sent text may appear to be for “someone else” to a parent who is disconnected from the school. Include personal notes home with the child, individual texts, emails and follow-up phone calls – the more personal, the better. Use multiple ways to get the message out. One Maryland elementary school placed a sticky note on each child’s jacket saying, “Bring me to the family program at school tonight!” Notices in local foreign-language newspapers and fliers at ethnic restaurants, markets, or other community venues can be particularly valuable. Local cultural newspapers usually have English-speaking staff and are eager to report school news.

Collaborate with local groups that serve immigrants. The most effective family engagement begins with an understanding of the background, interests and needs of the particular immigrant families within that community. Community organizations, culture-based groups, and houses of worship can be powerful partners in connecting with families, as well as planning and hosting programs. Leaders of these groups can provide a trusted link to immigrant families.

Eileen Gale Kugler helps schools develop positive high-achieving culture that values every student and family. She is author of the award-winning “Debunking the Middle-class Myth: Why Diverse Schools are Good for All Kids” and Executive Editor of the global resource, Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities. She can be reached at EKugler@EmbraceDiverseSchools. Follow her on Twitter at @embracediversiT

Additional Resources

Want to read more? Click here to purchase Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities and read our book review of this important resource. Enter promo code RLEGEN15 at checkout for a 20% discount. You can also read a previous article “How Immigrant Students Strengthen American Schools” by the author featured on our blog.

We want to hear from you!

What are the diverse ways you connect with immigrant parents? Please share your thoughts with us by emailing us at teacher@immcouncil.org and we’ll share best practices on our blog and with educators in our network. All submissions will be eligible for a $25 Amazon gift card.

Stay Connected!

The American Immigration Council offers free lesson plans, resources, book/film reviews, and grants to teach immigration. We also welcome teacher and student book reviews and contributions to our blog. Email us at teacher@immcouncil.org and follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration #teachimmigration.

Engaging Immigrant Parents as Partners

Part One: Recognizing Underlying Principles

-- Contributed by Eileen Gale Kugler

We are thrilled to publish this two-part series on engaging immigrant parents by Eileen Gale Kugler. In this series, she notes a critical disconnect between many immigrant families and schools and provides practical tips for educators to understand the value of diverse perspectives and to build important partnerships with all parents. To read part two, click here.

Sylvia’s Story

Sylvia, a participant in a leadership class for immigrant parents in a diverse high school, presented a problem she had encountered: “One of my stepdaughter's teachers thought someone else did her homework. But the reason she is doing so well is that I am working with her at home.” Sylvia emigrated from Guatemala as a child and attended U.S. schools from 4th grade on. She speaks English fluently and is committed to helping her stepdaughter, who recently arrived from Guatemala.

“Call the teacher,” the leader of the class advised. “This is clearly a misunderstanding, and the teacher would want to know what is actually happening.” Sylvia was amazed: “You mean I can talk to the teacher? I felt I would be insulting her if I did.”

Sylvia’s story can tell us a great deal about engaging the growing number of immigrant families in our schools. While there are some commonalities among immigrants, they are diverse in many ways, even if they have emigrated from the same country. And despite a widely-held belief that the only obstacle to engagement is language, Sylvia shows that knowledge of English is not the only issue. Cultural barriers often remain, with many parents bringing the norms and expectations of school involvement in their home country with them.

Understanding How to Develop Authentic Parent Engagement

To effectively attract and engage immigrant parents as partners, educators need to first recognize some underlying principles.

• Every parent has something of value to share. The goal of engaging families is to build a partnership to support the students and the school itself. This work begins with the belief that every parent cares about their child and has something of value to share. Partnerships with parents cannot be built on blame – or pity.

Families of international backgrounds bring many strengths that are often overlooked. Think of the organization and resilience of an immigrant family who made the challenging journey to the U.S. or the respected work ethic of immigrants. In my work with immigrant parents, I am always impressed with their commitment to spend time together as a family, even when their children become teenagers.

• Cultural Differences Impact Involvement.  Immigrant families bring with them the experiences and norms of the educational system in their home countries. They need information about the American educational system provided in a way that acknowledges and respects their cultural background.

For example, I visited a school in China that prided itself on high parent involvement. Over 90% of the families at this school came to parent programs, but all of these programs consisted of one-way information sessions, with no opportunity for the parents to engage in a dialogue or share their perspectives, knowledge or ideas. So an immigrant parent with a past school experience like this might attend a program at a U.S. school where the principal provides information, but would not participate in an activity where parents were expected to contribute their own ideas or insights. In fact, that is exactly what was happening in a school where I was invited to speak in the Midwest. The principal and faculty found the parents’ behavior a challenging obstacle until they recognized that this was how these parents thought they were supposed to act. With this understanding, the school leaders could strategically design outreach and programs to actively engage this community.

•  The Complexities of English Remain a Barrier. Many parents with knowledge of English still lack understanding of its nuances or the academic language used in schools. Schools often rely on students to translate information sent home, but the students may be unreliable translators and they may screen information. Further, this places the child in an inappropriate adult role.

Ideally, information sent to immigrant parents should be translated by a native speaker. The information is most effective if the translator goes beyond just a literal translation to recommend the best way to communicate the message within that culture. Some schools hire Family Liaisons to provide this culturally competent connection to the community.

At school meetings, interpreters usually translate only what is being said by others, leaving immigrants as passive listeners. But immigrant parents themselves can be encouraged to become active contributors, with the support of the interpreter.

•  Immigrant parents are diverse. Immigrant families are diverse themselves, from their knowledge of American culture and norms to their education and socio-economic level to their immigration status. Strategies to reach out to immigrant families need to be grounded in the specific needs and interests of the immigrant families within that community.

Different programs will speak to different immigrant parents. Some families need basic support, and schools can build trusting relationships by connecting them with community services such as health care. In Texas, Education Austin builds the capacity of their families by helping qualifying individuals apply for U.S. citizenship, with support from pro bono attorneys and volunteers. 

In classes I led to develop immigrant parent leaders at a high school in Virginia, a number of the parents said the current programs for immigrant parents were too basic and not relevant to their needs. While those programs met the needs of some parents in the community, these immigrant parents needed more sophisticated programs on how to be their child's advocate in school, something they did not know from their home countries. These parents were ready to step into leadership positions, with information and ongoing support.

Part Two provides Strategies to Build Partnerships with Parents.

Eileen Gale Kugler helps schools develop positive high-achieving culture that values every student and family. She is author of the award-winning “Debunking the Middle-class Myth: Why Diverse Schools are Good for All Kids” and Executive Editor of the global resource, Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities. She can be reached at EKugler@EmbraceDiverseSchools. Follow her on Twitter at @embracediversiT

Additional Resources 

•  Want to read more? Click here to purchase Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities and read our book review of this important resource. Enter promo code RLEGEN15 at checkout for 20% discount. You can also read a previous article “How Immigrant Students Strengthen American Schools” by the author feature on our blog. 

Stay Connected!

The American Immigration Council offers free lesson plans, resources, book/film reviews, and grants to teach immigration. We also welcome teacher and student book reviews and contributions to our blog. Email us at teacher@immcouncil.org and follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration #teachimmigration.

Empowering Educators to Teach Immigration

On June 29^th, 2015 just three days after the last official day of school and three days into their summer break, a group of 16 dedicated Long Island educators, social workers, and administrators participated in a full-day training on immigration as an introduction to the American Immigration Council’s Teach Immigration project. This project is an educational imitative designed to increase and improve teaching and learning about immigration law and policy at selected high schools on Long Island.

On this day, we focused on unpacking key concepts and issues in immigration that are integral to fostering informed and honest classroom discussions, sorely desired by both educators and students. As teachers gathered for the training, many conversed about their recent commencement ceremonies and beamed with pride on their students’ achievements. We began by facilitating an Immigration Status Privilege Walk, where asked participants to literally walk through the benefits and limitations conferred with an immigration status from a series of scenarios. We debriefed on what it felt like to be excluded and included, and how everyone to different degrees is affected by the privilege of immigration status. Soon after, teachers shared stories of separated families and interrupted educations many of them heard about. Throughout the day, they cited examples of how forming relationships with students and their families helped to address their students’ needs, while also recognizing the importance of staying informed on immigration issues so that they could speak about them in such a way as to engender positive school climates and attitudes on immigration.

 

To address this latter concern in our training, we looked at writing our way into the multiple reactions to executive action. By weaving non-fiction accounts taken from article clippings into creative writing, educators were able to write their way into understanding the multiple perspectives that surround this immigration issue, and importantly use this as critical writing and thinking lesson with their students. To deepen understandings and empower students to discuss immigration issues, our partner, Lena Moreale Scott from Street Law, trained teachers on deliberative dialogue, a strategy which provides a thorough understandings of both sides to an issue and allows students to deliberate using evidence and logic. 

In order to meet the need of fostering a positive school climate, Eileen Gale Kugler, author of Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities, also spoke to educators on the need for reflection on assumptions and identities we all have of ourselves and others with practical ways to allow for students and school professionals to build fuller understandings of who they are and what they bring to the classroom.

 

As teachers left the training, many were enthusiastic about trying new strategies for the classroom. One teacher wrote to us saying she was “looking forward to using some formats as models for the classroom. [The training emphasized] excellent critical thinking and writing! Teaching our students to deliberate about immigration policy was very relevant and helpful with developing curriculum.” Another told us that what benefitted him most was “meeting like-minded individuals and receiving truly applicable activities that meet K-12 academic goals.” Still another teacher stated, “You are reminded that when we talk about immigration issues, we are talking about real people!”

The attendees are invited to continue the journey with Teach Immigration by partnering with a local immigration attorney who will help co-teach lessons about immigration law and policy and will serve as an issue expert and local contact. The educators are also invited to bring their students to a student forum to be held in the fall of 2015 on Long Island.  Students who participate in the program will be eligible to apply for a student leadership program which will match up to three outstanding students with local organizations in a summer internship. The internship will allow students to build their resume, network, learn new skills and earn a stipend while serving as a peer leader.

         

We look forward to continuing our work with this engaged group of educators on Long Island through the Teach Immigration project and to share our work and lessons learned. Many of the lessons and resources we offer them are available for free on our website.  

Additional Resources:

• To learn more about the Teach Immigration project, please visit this website: www.teachimmigration.org 

• For information on the economic benefits Long Island immigrants are making to their communities, please review this new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute, “New Americans on Long Island: A Vital Fifth of the Economy.”  You can also read the American Immigration Council’s State Fact Sheets to learn about the economic contributions made by immigrants in your state and district.

We offer free lesson plans, resources, book/film reviews, and grants to #teachimmigration. Stay connected! Follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration and/or email us at teacher@immcouncil.org.