Topic 7: Communication with stakeholders (parents,
district, community)
Parents and district officials must each have accurate information
about immersion education in order to make either appropriate personal
choices or sound administrative decisions. And the community that
houses an immersion school often does not understand the objectives
of immersion education. How do immersion practitioners communicate
vital information to each of these constituencies?
Practitioner Perspectives
Practitioner Perspectives
What kind of information best allays parents’
concerns about their child’s immersion education, e.g. English
language literacy development, keeping up academically with non-immersion
peers?
Not surprisingly, districts with successful immersion schools have
found neither easy answers nor effective shortcuts to communicating
with parents. In fact, “give parents as much information as
possible as early as possible and as often as possible” might
well be an immersion maxim. Parents will have many concerns. To
name just a few of the frequently asked questions:
- What does an immersion classroom look (and sound) like?
- How do kindergarten students figure out what is going on when
the teacher speaks only in the immersion language and they comprehend
nothing?
- How will my child learn to read and write in English?
- What do I do as a parent when my child doesn’t understand
the homework assignment and I don’t understand the immersion
language?
District administrators can start talking about immersion even
before they have a school building. They can speak cogently about
the research behind successful immersion programs, can share experiences
from other immersion schools in the region or even nationally, can
refer parents to appropriate print and internet resources, can point
to published test scores showing the ranking of immersion schools
relative to other schools in the area. Well-informed district personnel
who have a passion for language learning will be able to make a
well-reasoned case for immersion education when parents may be feeling
unsure about the decision to place their young child in an immersion
classroom. Painting a detailed picture of an immersion classroom
is essential to allay fears and create realistic expectations. What
does a day in an immersion classroom look like? What can parents
expect to happen over the course of a school year? If the school
is not yet open, parents will be eager for explicit information
about how an immersion classroom differs from an English-medium
classroom. Administrators can help parents with the decision by
posing questions that focus their thinking on the appropriateness
and readiness of their family to engage in a significantly different
learning experience. For example,
- How many children are in your family? If you have older children,
how are they going to react to this choice for this child?
- Our building is smaller than other buildings in the district;
therefore, [certain programs] are going to look different. Are
you OK with that?
- You’re not going to be able to walk into the classroom
whenever you want to talk to the teacher because we need to constantly
model the target language in front of the students. Are you comfortable
with that rule?
- Unless you understand [the target language] there will be times
when you won’t know exactly what’s going on with your
child’s homework. Are comfortable with that?
Parents can be highly anxious about the decision to enroll their
5- or 6-year old in an immersion school. This is, after all, a learning
environment that is new to the vast majority of parents, one that
does not necessarily produce immediate results (stellar standardized
test scores, as an example) and one that neighbors and relatives
may, at best, question or, worse, ridicule. For parents who have
made this leap of faith decision, even before the school opens it
doors for the first time, it is extremely important to reassure
them and empathize with them. They are the pioneers in an educational
experiment where - they may feel - their children are the guinea
pigs.
As parents’ concerns arise administrators and teachers can
help maintain perspective by providing forums for dialogue (site
councils, focus groups, working committees), acknowledging that
ideas generated by parents may be worth considering, and accepting
offers of help from parents that create a community working toward
a common educational goal.
How can immersion schools involve parents
in constructive ways when they don’t speak the target language?
Parent-teacher associations are the backbone of parental involvement
and volunteerism in many American schools. These associations organize
fundraising activities, recruit chaperones for field trips and aides
for the classrooms, advocate for special needs and programs before
local school boards, and engage in a host of other educational support
activities. The parent-teacher alliances in an immersion school
generally operate no differently except for the limited opportunities
for parents to be directly involved in the classroom.
However, immersion schools can benefit in numerous ways from parents’
expertise and enthusiasm even when they don’t speak the immersion
language. Our practitioners suggest these ideas:
- Set up a buddy program with current parents who can answer the
questions of incoming parents and who will serve as ambassadors
for immersion education;
- Establish certain limited times when parents can go into the
classroom, e.g. for a publication party or a special art project
where extra hands are needed;
- Encourage parents to organize and participate in extracurricular
activities where knowledge of the target language is not essential;
- Create opportunities for family involvement (Math Night, Literacy
Night, Service Learning) that are aligned with school values and
goals and will help parents understand what they can do at home
to help their children succeed academically, e.g. read regularly
to their children in English;
- Involve parents on committees, boards (charter schools), and
site councils where they can get firsthand knowledge of decision-making
processes that will empower them to address concerns with a wider
parent audience;
- Acknowledge the importance of parent peer groups both within
the school and across schools in a district or region that has
more than one immersion school and support the work that parent
groups undertake.
How can 2-way immersion programs involve
parents who may not speak English?
Parents of non-English speaking students are often conspicuously
absent from the myriad endeavors that parent-teacher organizations
are often involved in. Their limited English proficiency may confine
their school involvement to parent-teacher conferences; their immigration
status or social standing may prevent them from adopting a more
public profile in their child’s school, or they may be unfamiliar
with the culture of parent support so ingrained in American public
education. Whatever the reason, parent-teacher organizations in
two-way immersion programs are often looking for ways to encourage
and increase the participation of language minority parents.
Although creating a parallel organization that holds its meetings
at the same time as the English-speaking parents’ meetings
may run contrary to a spirit of collaboration, two-way immersion
parent groups have confirmed the success and benefits of this approach.
When non-English speaking parents meet they are free to voice concerns,
comfortably, in their own language, that may be of little or no
consequence to English-speaking parents: questions about visa and
immigration status, expectations for student behavior or teacher
discipline in U.S. schools, adaptation to new surroundings, culture,
and language, and so on.
Schools that have established dual parent organizations separated
by language frequently are quick to point out the importance of
having a go-between. Someone who is bilingual, bicultural, and,
preferably, willing to attend both meetings can keep everyone apprised
of concerns that are shared by both groups. The benefits that accrue
to the whole school can include increased participation of language
minority parents, not just as consumers of education, but as more
active partners in their children’s schooling and the enrichment
and extracurricular activities that so often rely on parent engagement
and leadership.
Other recommendations to increase participation of language minority
parents in two-way immersion:
- Schedule presentations in the parents’ native language
- Offer a light meal and childcare for younger children
- Provide transportation to school either in car pools or taxis,
if funds are available
- Arrange for performances by the children which always increases
turnout
- Have teachers publicize meetings and events repeatedly emphasizing
those that will be conducted in the parents’ native language
Readings from the ACIE Archives:
Paradigms of Participation –Zehrbach, ACIE, November 2006
MAIN Parents – Richardson, ACIE, February 2006
Wanted:
Parents with Time for School - Miller & Polanco-McNealy,
ACIE, February 2005
Forest
Glen Parent Education Conference: Preparing Students …Tomorrow’s
World, - Nolden, ACIE, February 2004
Organizational
Pointers for Secondary Immersion Parents - Johnson, ACIE, May
2003
Parent
Activism: A Critical Component for Secondary Immersion –
Johnson, ACIE, May 2003
Channeling
Involved Parents – Berkey, ACIE, May ?2001
Why
Immersion? – Sweitzer, ACIE, February 2001
Parent
Advocacy in Milwaukee – Guthery, ACIE, June 2000
The
Changing Role of the Parent-Teacher Organization in an Immersion
School – Nelson, ACIE, March 2000
Homework
in an Immersion Classroom: Parental Friend or Foe? – Lewis,
ACIE, December 1999
Changing
Parental Concerns - Bredesen & Bredesen, ACIE, May 1999
A
Dozen Activities for Promoting the Use of Spanish Outside of School
- Downs-Reid & Pezan, ACIE, November 1997
How does an immersion school develop and
maintain support from the school district; i.e. administrators,
school board members, teachers in other schools?
Immersion schools often materialize from grassroots advocacy by
parents. In such cases, early support from a superintendent, a director
of curriculum, school board members, or other high-level district
officials, becomes essential. Even if someone in the district is
providing the vision and leadership from the beginning, there are
some basic rules of the road that our practitioners recommend:
- Be a team player. As willing members of district-wide committees
or task forces, immersion educators and parents can dispel myths,
provide research data, explain why certain needs differ from English-medium
schools, and possibly head off controversy before it surfaces.
Board members and administration officials who understand immersion
can then be more proactive about promoting the school and approving
measures that support best practices in immersion education.
- Remain sensitive to other schools in the district. Immersion
schools often get a lot of media attention, especially when they
are new. Common misconceptions about immersion schools –
they get more money, they attract the best students in the district,
they get to handpick their students, they counsel behavior problems
out – spread easily. Promote the school within the context
of the district showing how it operates under the same budget
constraints as other schools, works hard at recruiting and retaining
the same demographic mix, etc. Explain the challenge of maintaining
services as attrition lowers enrollment at the upper grade levels.
- Maintain the integrity of the immersion model. Immersion schools
do indeed have different needs from English-medium schools so
educators and teachers must strike a balance between their roles
as members of a public school district and their responsibility
to be genuine advocates for district flexibility and accountability
to immersion principles. Break away when something that everyone
else is doing is not appropriate for immersion.
- Include non-immersion participants on planning teams. As immersion
programs grow from elementary into secondary, it is important
to recruit teachers, administrators and parents who are not currently
part of the immersion community to be on articulation committees.
Misunderstandings and misconceptions about immersion education
can be addressed from the outset and collaborative planning for
the transition into secondary school will increase chances for
consensus.
- Use parents as ambassadors for immersion. Parents can often
attend school board meetings and communicate with district administrators
as consumers of public education. If administrators and school
board members are unfamiliar with immersion, parents are frequently
happy to bring them up to par by making them aware of the unique
needs of immersion programs.
Readings from the ACIE Archives:
Planning
for Articulation: One Principal’s Experience – Swanson,
ACIE, May 2003
Standardized
Testing: Overcoming the Threat to Immersion Education –
Minnich, ACIE, March 2000
Immersion Friendly/Unfriendly
School profiles
How does an immersion school develop and
maintain support from the community?
Any new endeavor has, on the one hand, eager and enthusiastic proponents
and, on the other hand, scrutinizing, skeptical critics. Some members
of the community appreciate the value of early language learning;
others see no need and disapprove of any plan that dilutes the strength
of neighborhood schools. Introducing the idea of an immersion school
in your community will certainly attract both types to school board
meetings and community forums. Although immersion schools have opened
and flourished in the midst of community disharmony and disagreement
over the basic principle of early foreign language learning, it
is hard to imagine any district would choose this contentious path
over a more agreeable one. Therefore, preparing for heated confrontation,
at worst, and misinformed objections, at best, is a crucial first
step to garnering public support for immersion education. Even in
the early stages, it is important to include those who oppose immersion
education in the discussions so they get firsthand knowledge of
budgeting and other issues that they may be objecting to.
Survey community members to learn about their aspirations for their
children, their approval or disapproval of district decisions, their
opinion of the district’s fiscal accountability, their understanding
and support of the importance of early language learning, and their
socio-economic, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. Hold focus groups
to identify areas that will need to be addressed before support
from the community is forthcoming. Do significant segments of the
population see learning a foreign language as un-American? Do they
perceive immersion education as elitist, either drawing the most
talented students from the district or those from the most advantaged
households thus creating a private school setting within a public
school district? Do they believe funding an immersion school will
be too expensive?
Once an immersion school has opened, these same public relations
issues will present themselves periodically as members of the community
become more aware of the school and its goals. Concerns about fiscal
accountability and elitism are especially persistent so it is important
to provide data showing that the immersion school operates within
the same constraints as other schools in the district. For example,
the immersion school requests no extra funding from the district
to run its program or that it manages populations of special needs
students like other schools do.
What measures are effective in educating
the community about immersion education?
One of the most effective strategies for educating a community
about immersion education is the enthusiastic word-of-mouth support
from parents of children in the school. Whatever buzz accompanies
parents as they spread the news can translate into demand for immersion
programs. Our practitioners spoke of waiting lists that grow as
parents become aware of the opportunity for early language learning
in their community.
However enthusiastic parents can be about their children’s
experience in an immersion school, they have neither the expertise
nor authority to address the kinds of myths and misconceptions that
may spread throughout a community. A concerted effort by the school,
with the support of the district, to manage its public profile will
undoubtedly be an on-going job. Local press outlets such as community
newspapers can be effective vehicles for such public relations.
Regular news about your immersion school should be informative and
measured highlighting the school’s role in the district as
well as its unique educational traits.
Reading from the ACIE Archives:
Organizational
Pointers for Secondary Immersion Parents – Johnson, ACIE,
May 2003
Planning
for Articulation: One Principal’s Experience – Swanson,
ACIE, May 2003
First
Stop: Alaska! CARLA Immersion Workshops on the Road - Tedick
& Fortune, ACIE, February 2003
Parent
Advocacy in Milwaukee, ACIE, June 2000
Milwaukee
German Immersion School - Curtain & Buchert, ACIE, June
?2000
Park
Spanish Immersion School: A Budding Program of Academic Excellence
and Language Learning – Swanson, ACIE, March 2000
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)
