multicultural education

Scenarios for Parent-Teacher Cross Cultural Communication

Attached are three different scenarios. Not all of these scenarios are about ELL, but all are about diverse families, and include common elements you will see often in classrooms today!

Directions: Read each scenario and decide how you would approach the parents about each situation as you answer each question.

Note: Make sure your answers are realistic for public school classrooms and schools, and are appropriate for a classroom teacher. For example, a translator will never be assigned to an individual child, or you (as a teacher) cannot drive students home from school or even spend extra time outside of the school day with specific children. Make sure you do not overstep your role as a classroom teacher or do not engage in any behavior which could potentially set you (or your school/system) to be sued for inappropriate contact with families/children. Remember that contact with families and students is regulated and watched closely in today’s world!

Some tips for successful and effective communication/ideas/strategies:

· Think about what you have learned so far this semester on diversity, effective communication, and culture.

· Think about your tone and cultural orientation/bias as you work your way through each situation.

· Remember to use the strategies we learned about in this module and make sure you are respectful, professional, and mindful of the parent/family/child and their situation.

· Be sure to come up with appropriate solutions which are respectful of the parents’ perspectives and cultures and are win-win solutions for everyone involved.

· Your objective is NOT to make them come to think and behave the way you do, but to find a solution and ideas which will solve the issues while validating their point of view-again, a win-win situation for everyone. 

Scenario #1

You have a new student in your kindergarten classroom from Mexico. He speaks no English and you do not have any other Latino students in your classroom. He falls asleep every day before lunch and when awake, he wanders around the classroom. You discuss this with the principal, and a letter in Spanish is sent home asking the parents to come in for a conference. The parents do not respond.

Questions:

1) What are 2 issues which may account for the child’s behaviors? Make sure to discuss each issue and explain why it may account for the behaviors.

2) What are 2 issues which may account for the parent’s behaviors? Make sure to discuss the issue and explain why it may account for the behaviors.

3) Give 2 examples of what you can do for this child in your classroom to help him adjust and learn. Make sure your examples are detailed and specific.

4) Describe 2 examples of what you can do to communicate with the parents. Make sure these are realistic (and legal) for a public school classroom/school and for a classroom teacher.

Remember to consider both language and cultural barriers which may be in place here, as well as the age of the child. Be sure to not assume that all reasons for what is happening are negative!

Scenario #2

You have 2 siblings from Nigeria in your childcare center, ages 2 and 4. The 2 year old has difficulty playing with the other 2 year olds in his class, and always wants to be with his 4 year old sister. The sister is very bossy with the other 4 year olds, and often becomes loud if she does not get her own way. You are concerned about both children’s adjustment in their classrooms. When you discuss this with the mother, her solution is to let the children be together in the same room. When you discuss the older sibling’s behavior, the mother does not see anything wrong with her behavior.

Questions:

1) Discuss 2 cultural and/or family issues that might be involved in this situation that you need to think about. Be sure to be specific here and explain how each issue may impact what you see happening in your center.

2) Discuss 2 ideas of what you can do for the children to ensure they are learning and are comfortable in your center. Make sure to have ideas for each of the children.

Make sure you are not trying to convince the mother that her perceptions and solutions are wrong and that yours are right. Think about ways to ensure that these children can adjust to your center in appropriate and positive ways. Do not assume that your perspective is correct and realize that your perceptions may need to be more positive and less judgmental than how they are presented in this scenario. Make sure you are addressing the mother’s concern(s) and that you are searching for a win-win situation here!

Scenario #3

You have a child in your third grade classroom who is often either late to school or absent. In the first quarter alone (9 weeks of school), she was late 15 times and absent 12 days. In addition, when she is in school, she seems very tired, sometimes not very clean, and often does not have her homework completed. You are very concerned that she is not mastering the third grade curriculum and will have to be held back. You have sent many letters home and have called and talked to the mother. The mother has said that they will try to get her to school on time, but that she has a lot of late nights, and gets tired. The mother has not come in for conferences, and the school system social worker has been unable to schedule a visit. Although your student seems to speak fluent English, you know that they moved to the US when she was a preschooler from Niger. You know little about their home life, as your student does not talk about home very much or in detail, and you have only had a few brief conversations with the mother.

Questions:

1) What might be 2 possible issues (cultural or others) which are causing this situation to occur? Make sure to discuss the reasons why each issue may be causing this situation.

2) Discuss 1 strategy that has not yet been tired in this scenario that you can use to communicate more effectively with the mother. Be specific and realistic as to what you, as a classroom teacher, can accomplish here.

3) Describe two things you can do to assist the child as her teacher in addressing the issues which affect learning and the classroom.

Make sure to not assume that all possible issues/reasons are negative. If they are negative, be sure to be respectful in your tone and in your responses to the questions. Be realistic about what you can do for both the mother and child, but do not list your strategies for questions 2 or 3 as only solutions others at a school or local level will implement-be sure to focus on what you, as the classroom teacher in a public school can do to help this child be successful in school.

Reflection:

After answering all the questions for all the scenarios, write a reflection to include the following:

1) What was your initial reaction to each scenario? Who did you blame or feel was responsible for the situation? Why?

2) How did these initial reactions influence your solutions? Why?

3) What did you learn about your bias and/or preconceived ideas about particular groups of people? Did you stereotype? Did you ignore the cultural issues/implications in any of the scenarios? Why or why not?

4) Which scenario was hardest for you? Why? How did your answer in #3 above influence this?

5) What have you learned from this assignment? What will you do differently next time? What can you use when working with parents, children, and families?

Make sure that you address all the scenarios in all of these questions (except in questions 4 and 5).