I have been taught to believe that immigrant parents do not care about their child’s education. I have witnessed numerous immigrant students not pass in papers or homework on time, and I have heard of parents pulling their children out of school for many months to go back home. Based on these observations, I have conditioned myself to believe that immigrant parents do not value education. My mother made sure I did my homework, and I only missed school because of an illness. She was an avid observer and participant in my schooling. I experienced my mother's involvement in my education throughout my life. Based on my experiences, I began to believe that this model was the correct one; however, after reading Carola and Marcelo Suarez-Orozco’s book, Children of Immigration, I realized that parental involvement in education can vary depending on cultural influences amongst other things. Immigrant parents take a more stand offish approach to their child’s education. They feel as if they should not have to “micromanage the schooling of their child”—the child’s education is his or her own responsibility (C & M Suarez-Orozco, 2001, p.149). Moreover, the parents do not want to second guess the teacher because they believe that he/she is in control of the child’s education as well as what goes on in his/her classroom. The parent may feel uncomfortable questioning the schooling and thus, appears to be uncaring and passive with regard to her child’s education as well. I was naïve to think that this meant education was not a priority because I learned that many immigrant students hold positive views about school and know how important education is to success. Despite the parent's apparent lack of involvement, however, they do make sure their children know how valuable a good education is.
There are many cultural differences that come into play when you consider an immigrant student’s education and the parents’ involvement in his/her schooling. It is necessary to understand these differences so to not fall into the stereotypes surrounding immigrant parents and their involvement in their child’s education. Ultimately, I need to grasp the idea that not all parents are going to be as involved in their child’s education as another, whether immigrant or not, but what happens in my classroom is up to me. Just because the parent is not as involved does not mean that he/she is unconcerned with the child’s education and continued success in life. We must consider the child’s life, the culture he/she lives in, whether the parents are working multiple jobs, and even what the parent’s view of school is: do they feel that the child is succeeding primarily because he/she is attending school, or do they feel like school is the child’s own responsibility? I have been shown that there are many factors influencing a parent’s involvement, and I cannot, as a future educator give in to negative stereotypes—I must learn about the individual and form my own thoughts through my interactions with him or her. This knowledge will help me when I begin to teach because it showed me to be open and to not judge the situation before I understand it fully.
Suarez-Orozco, C., & Suarez-Orozco M. (2001). Children of Immigration. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 149-150.
Tia- I think the stereotype you mentioned is one that many people are familiar with and think when dealing with immigrant parents and children's education. However, like you said, you need to remember that there are a number of scenarios and factors affecting both the parents and the children. Whether the parents take stand-off approach, or are working multiple jobs to support the family, among others, they may still care a great deal. Your post provides a better way of looking at the situation and offers things for all of us to keep in mind when we get to teaching in our own classrooms!
ReplyDeleteI recently attended a meeting with a student’s father. There were four other teachers, two guidance counselors, and a translator present along with myself. The father spoke Khmer and no English. The student is considered a FLEP student (Former Limited English Proficiency) although he is still being given ELL support classes.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, his son is failing my class and barely passing his other courses. The other teachers insist that the student is capable and is doing poorly only because he doesn’t do his work, but I am not so sure when it comes to his math skills. I believe this student doesn’t do his work because he is years behind grade level and is completely overwhelmed. Even if a student fails a course in middle school, he or she is generally “passed” and continues to move on. When they enter their freshman year, they are significantly behind and we can no longer pass them.
Sadly, I have not been able to help this student. He will rarely stay after school. I’ve given him detention and he doesn’t show. I’ve begged him to stay, and occasionally he will, but only to retake a quiz or test which he does poorly on. He will not do homework.
This student has missed extended periods of school because of vacation planned by the parents.
During the meeting, the father passionately spoke in Khmer and he had tears in his eyes. The interpreter also seemed emotional when she told us what he said. He explained how sad that he was that he cannot help his son in his schooling. He apologized for his lack of English proficiency and then said that he believes his son to be a star in the family who is cherished by all members.
Your questions about immigrant students’ parents are ones that I also have. I do not always know how to “reach” them. My student’s father told us that he will make sure that his son will do his work going forward, but little has changed. I believe the struggles with language, if not addressed properly early on, will result in a student significantly behind grade level, overwhelmed, and without hope.
I would like to know how to effectively provide the remedial support to someone in this state of mind.