Families: Education Theories, Case Study Example

Abstract

The increasingly diverse American society creates a great challenge for the education system. Meeting the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse families is only the first step: engaging them in local and school communities, in order to increase parental involvement is the end goal, according to the initiatives of the No Child Left Behind program (2002). In the below review paper, the author attempt to evaluate the challenges of two immigrant families described in the case study for the purpose of developing a collaborative and inclusive framework that would improve learning and social development outcomes.

Several theories and approaches will be reviewed in order to measure the potential impact of collaborative, culturally responsive, engaging and respect-based intervention methods. While in the past few years, various theories have been developed, their effectiveness can only be measured through testing them on real cases. Covering the impact of diversity on learning outcomes, racism and discrimination, the writer would like to find a suitable alternative to one-way communication, through a plan that assumes that parents and educators take joint responsibility for learning outcomes, and they should work together towards common goals: better outcomes of child development.

Introduction

Today, we live in a big diverse world. Educators have realized the significance of considering children’s diverse backgrounds, cultures, and needs. To tackle cultural, socio-economic, and linguistic diversity, communication, culturally responsive teaching, and skilled dialogues can be effective methods that lead to improve learning and home-school collaboration outcomes. The aim of this paper is to:

1. Increase community engagement of the two parents: Ana and Lucia
2. Support families in their effort to help their daughters’ linguistic and social development
3. Create a communication and unique educational/parental involvement plan to respond to family differences.

By reviewing different educational, social, sociocultural and development theories, the author will attempt to find a framework that would be able to make the Head Start program, school intervention and home-school engagement more successful delivering better outcomes for the families described in the case study. In the years between 2000 and 2007, US classroom diversity increased by five percent (Ruggs & Hebl 2012). Diversity is not only present in the form of ethnicity, but socio-economic and cultural levels, as well. The No Child Left Behind Program (2002) requires the parental involvement component to be present in policies. Increasing parent-school collaboration among culturally and linguistically diverse population creates a challenge for the education system. This challenge is finding ways of turning diversity into an educational opportunity, as “the competence and productivity of minority populations are crucial to our collective well-being” (Coll et al., 1996, p. 1908). Collaboration and skilled dialogue theories, therefore, will be reviewed in order to assess their effectiveness in the case of linguistically diverse children. The question is no longer how can schools reduce the effect of children’s diversity on learning outcomes. The author here aims to identify methods that have the potential to create equal opportunities by developing a supportive approach towards diversity and generate positive outcomes in the two cases reviewed.

Related Theories Literature Review

In this section, the author reviews existing theories about educational approaches of linguistically and culturally diverse children. All the below theorists agree that diversity, cultural and social background affect child development; however, they emphasize the different aspects of social context.

Diversity and Education

Hurtado (2007) finds a close relationship between the success of education and diversity. Hurtado’s article approaches the question from the society’s point of view, stating that in the liberal education model, there are several benefits associated with diversity. Diversity experiences, according to Hurtado, have an impact on learning outcomes. His theory of diversity and learning states that all people “rely on familiar ways of thinking” (p. 189). This theory also indicates that teachers think their own ways while culturally diverse children, parents, and educators might have a different perspective. The theorist states that this way of thinking involves customs, routines, and even stereotypes. This theory is useful for examining the challenges of creating effective communication and collaboration between schools and parents.

Ruggs & Hebl (2012) add some more details to Hurtado’s (2007) theoretical approach. The scholars state that differential treatment is not the solution to tackle the negative effects of diversity.  Micro-inequalities become more prevalent as children grow older and negative perceptions, discrimination, and stigmas appear stronger. On the other hand, the scholars also suggest that family involvement has a great impact on student outcomes, in the form of “positively influencing diversity students’ future aspirations” (Ruggs & Hebl, 2012, p. 3). While parental and sibling support has been noted more significant in the case of minority pupils, the main obstacle determined by the authors is that most parents would not be able to support children successfully academically (Ruggs & Hebl, 2012). Their lack of knowledge about the educational system expectations is an issue that needs to be addressed by schools through effective communication and collaboration plans. One of the effective methods is implementing skilled dialogues and advanced communication techniques. These can help to increase teachers’ understanding of the cultural diversity of children in their classrooms and help their parents understand the educational standards and expectations.

Theories Based on Racial Diversity

Race-based child development theories have been around for many years (Coll, Jenkins, McAdoo, Crnick, Wask & Garcia, 1996). They attempt to provide educators and child psychologists with a better understanding for some challenges that children of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds face. Coll et al. (1996) emphasize the importance of political and social context of children of ethnic diversity. They clearly state that systematic racism, prejudice, stigmas and discrimination affect children’s development. This is the reason why so many children from ethnic minority background under-achieve in schools.

Ecological Theories

From the ecological perspective, the theory of child development assumes that children’s strong cultural identity (Piaget, 1957) would result in a different way of thinking, diverse value systems and preferences, which would lead to prejudice and discrimination. This can be the case based on the existence of cultural difference and the use of physical violence in the case of Ana’s four year old daughter. It is more than likely that she bites other children because – as York (2003, p. 49) puts it: “she used physical violence to counter verbal abuse”.

Kaiser (2003) focused on cultural diversity’s impact on behavioral issues. She stated that culture of children can be absorbed in different aspects: through overt culture and covert culture. Covert culture involves perceptions, behavior and social learning, and this process of cultural socialization can have an impact on children’s behavior. She brings into context an element that is not mentioned by other authors: attitude.  Further, the Kaiser calls for distinction between cultural disconnection and a child “being difficult”. This phenomenon is originated in the theme of “cultural dissonance”, when children do not understand the rules; therefore, they feel confused, incompetent or do not feel valued, accepted. In the case of Ana’s daughter, this theory can be proven useful, especially when creating an action plan with Ana to collaborate with the school to change the child’s behavior. Making sense of the problems and their cultural diversity-origin will be later discussed, when assessing the skilled dialogue model.

The Impact of Urban Society Diversity           

Linse (2010) talks about the challenges of urban society in relation with diverse learners. As the author states, “There are numerous challenges that parents who are culturally and linguistically diverse face as a result of their cultural and linguistic heritages” (Linse, 2010, p. 657). Further, Linse confirms that collaboration with school among linguistically and culturally families are at a much lower level than the average. This statement calls for a proactive approach and a detailed framework based on inclusion.

Social Development Theories

The impact of racism in children’s cognitive and social development should be the main focus of educators when planning programs that tackle inequalities and support families. The main complications originated from ethnic diversity, according to York (2003) are separation and alienation, confusion, and bewilderment (as the example of Ana’s daughter shows), rejection, shame and anger, rage. The above theory of race is suitable for explaining the motives behind the behavior of Ana’s daughter. The National Association for the Education of Young Children states that “Early childhood professionals must recognize the feeling of loneliness, fear, and abandonment children may feel when they are thrust into settings that isolate them from their home community and language” (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1995, p. 2). This recommendation relates to Ana’s daughter’s situation. She expresses her fear through aggression.

The Question of Socio-economic Status – Family Stress Model and Investment Model

Conger, Conger & Martin (2011) examined two models to describe the relationship between socio-economic status and child development. The two theories detailed in the study are the Family Stress Model (FSM) and the Investment Model (IM). FSM states that economic hardship has a negative influence on children’s cognitive and social development. Further, the model describes a relationship between money issues in the family and parental relationships, as well as parent-child engagement. IM, on the other hand, looks at the family’s child-rearing abilities’ relationship with economic well-being. The theory states that “family income during childhood and adolescence is positively related to academic, financial and occupational success during the adult years”.(Conger et al. 2011, p. 12). The two socio-economic theories indicate that low socio-economic class can indicate lower level of family support and engagement.

Theories Based on Family’s Role

According to Weiss, Bouffard, Bridglall & Gordon (2009), family involvement in education is suitable for supporting educational equality. Desforges & Abouchaar (2003) confirms the positive correlation between family involvement and achievement. The question is: how can schools organize communication and collaboration projects to increase parental involvement? The task becomes more challenging in the case of minority groups as parents are likely to be alienated and distanced from the mainstream society. Creating common visions and goals about children’s education is a task not only for the school system, but communities of parents alike. Weiss et al. (2009) conclude that child learning outcomes are influenced by several forces. Appendix A explains the complexity of correlations; however, it is necessary to note that family involvement has a great role in every aspect of the intervention project.

Intervention Strategies Reviewed

Responding to Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (1995) created a position paper on recommended methods for responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. The guidelines and recommendations are summarized below in order to evaluate whether they outline the challenges non-English-proficient and limited-English-proficient children (and their families) face. At an early age, children whose home language is not English need to negotiate a transition between two sets of values, rules and behaviors. This creates confusion, and the more different the family’s original culture is from the school’s the more prevalent learning and behavioral issues will be.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (1995) clearly states that educators should accept, respect, promote and encourage family involvement. The position statement recommends that educators adapt a responsive learning environment based on the unique characteristics of children, family values, as well as academic expectations. Further, the position paper recommends that diverse methods should be used based on the child’s cultural and language diversities to support language development and cultural transition.

Collaborative Approaches

In order to develop a successful framework for collaboration, it is crucial to review Desforges & Abouchaar’s (2003) classification of parental involvement types to develop a framework of intervention suitable for the case study and address various aspects of parenting. The authors list six different types of involvement. There is a need for

1. Parenting
2. Communication
3. Volunteering
4. Learning at home
5. Decision making
6. Collaborating with the community.

In the case of Ana and Lucia’s children, it is vital that the adult literacy classes the women are enrolled to help them provide more support in learning at home. Their job-training program indicates that the parents are working on improving their communication skills, and are planning to improve their social status. However, there is no indication that there is collaboration between the school and the parents. The fact that Lucia’s 8 year child is not making expected progress in reading indicates that there are some linguistic developments problems that the school and family need to tackle together. There is a need to assess parental capacity in involvement. (Desforges & Abouchaar, 2003) Further, at-home educational involvement (modeling, expectations, and encouragement) needs to be supported by the school. Through the parental-school communication/collaboration interface, the school governors need to work on making Lucia become an “informed parent” who is aware of the expectations, rules, opportunities, support available, and values.

Parent-School Engagement

The PTA Family-School Partnerships Guide (2009) focuses on collaboration, partnerships and community involvement in its publication. The above Guide emphasizes the importance of an inclusive and welcoming school environment, effective communication, support for student success, speaking up for every child, sharing power and collaborating with the community. This involves a recommendation to create a welcoming school climate (PTA Family-School Partnerships Guide, 2009), that builds trust in parents through effective communication, welcoming, collaboration and sharing power. The recommendations also include creating volunteering opportunities. Creating these opportunities is not only beneficial for children’s socialization, sense of safety, but also can make parents feel more responsible and involved in school life. Further, parents can familiarize themselves with the school’s mission, culture, discuss their preferences and get their voices heard. Calling for parent leaders is a way of giving parents an opportunity to take ownership of their child’s education. The report also states that the recruitment of bilingual parent leaders in school would support communication with those with no English language skills. Further, parents taking part in volunteering projects would feel appreciated and useful part of the school and the greater community. Parents’ socialization would have an impact on their children’s social skills as well. Grant & Ray (2010) also emphasize not only the importance of links between families and schools, but communities and parents, as well as schools and local groups. The authors confirm that this link strengthens the initiatives to create a family-friendly and family-supportive school involving communities. The PTA Family-School Partnerships Guide (2009) recommends reaching out for community organizations, developing shared vision among schools, parents and communities and ensuring that activities designed by community leaders strengthen both families and learning outcomes.

Educational Equity and Family-school Links

Weiss et al. (2009) talk about the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) and its implications on family-school relationships. The Act talks about the shared responsibility of the family and school regarding child development. This shared responsibility should be the basis of all collaborative efforts. However, the authors also state that all parents would like to support their children in order to achieve better grades. Schools’ main mission is to create an educational environment that results in the best possible outcome, no matter what the background of the child is (Weiss et al., 2009). The researchers state that it is important to address diversity and at-risk groups through intervention programs to reduce inequality and achievement gap. However, in order to create an understanding and partnership, the parties need voluntarily acknowledge to shared responsibility. The collaboration system needs to be built on common goals and trust in order to address educational challenges of at-risk children, like the ones featured in the case study.

Integrated Approach

Frederickson & Cline (2002) talk about the integrated approach when assessing diversity in the classroom that addresses multiple areas of diversity through multiple channels. Coll et al. (1996, p. 1895) describe the integrative model as a framework that  “(1)constructs salient only to populations of color that contribute unique variance to their developmental processes, and (2) constructs that are also relevant to the developmental processes in other populations, but are differentiated on the basis of individual factors that affect developmental processes”.The main sources of diversity, determined by the author are race, culture, socio-economic status, and ethnicity. Hearing the voice of the child is essential in communicating with families and understanding cultural diversity. Children have the right to be heard, according to the theory. Further, the article also talks about the changing role of parents in relation with contributions to schools. One of the main aims of parental involvement, determined by the authors is tackling disadvantages and improving equality.

Coll, Lamberty, Jenkins & McAdoo (1996) state that none of the previous intervention strategies and theories took into consideration the interaction between socio-economic status, ethnicity, culture and race. According to Coll et al. (1996) there is a need for a new model that addresses the complexity of child development from all the above aspects. The article also calls for a better understanding between the role of the minority group or social class within the larger society. Children’s daily experiences, diverse ethnic characteristics, values and influences need to be examined in order to develop an effective intervention framework based on an integrated theory of class, social status, ethnicity and economic status.

Head Start and Diversity

The Head Start parent, family and community engagement framework is developed to strengthen communication and collaboration between local groups, families and educators. It does emphasize the importance of understanding diversity and creating a shared vision (Office of Head Start, 2009). It is designed to support families from the age of zero to eight. The early childhood development program focuses mainly on cognitive development, relationships, and community partnerships. Indeed, it does tackle all school readiness areas. Also, building strong family partnerships could be helpful for creating a shared vision among children, parents and teachers. Ana’s child’s inappropriate behavior and Lucia’s child’s inadequate development can be a result of poor socialization, lack of community links or parents’ understanding of school values, vision. Therefore, it is important to create collaboration links to understand Ana’s views of the issue and find out whether there is a cultural diversity that needs to be addressed or understood by educators. Educators’ understanding of families’ culture is just as important as parents’ understanding of the school’s priorities and rules.

Weiss et al. (2009) state that interventions focusing on low-income and at-risk families are necessary to create educational equality. The authors also state that children’s early learning should not be viewed as a collection of school-based activities. Children learn everywhere: in communities, in class, on the playground, and most importantly at home (p. 6).While socialization happens in school, children’s cognitive development starts in the family. Even though the Head Start Program claims to provide an inclusive environment, there is a need for implementing policies related to the impact of diversity, inclusion, and cultural awareness on learning outcomes. It has been noted that Lucia’s daughter who is eight years old is on a “below expected” level in reading. This might be the consequence of either differential treatment of lack of inclusion. Cultural differences and linguistic diversity can also cause problems. Teachers in the Head Start Program need to create an individual program for the child to assess the source of difficulties.

Skilled Dialogue and Diversity

Skilled dialogue is an effective method to improve communication in challenging situations through creating reciprocity and respectful interactions. According to Barrea & Kramer (2012) “the presence of absence of Skilled Dialogue is determined by the degree to which all participants in an interaction experience their identities” (p. 4). Therefore, it is relevant to home-school collaboration theories. The support provided for families to help linguistically diverse children is determined by the quality of communication between the school and the family. Barrea & Kramer (2012), state that the main problem with communication between schools and families is that educators and program leaders assume that they talk to an “average family”. Taking diversity into consideration when setting up home-school links is important. Diverse identities and voices need to be addressed. Cultural and linguistic diversity can have a great impact on communication and create boundaries. The problem the authors address is that the established cultural categories rarely appear in real life when it comes to families (Barrea &Kramer 2012). Families’ social, ethnic and economic background is more complex than ever before. Does this mean that each and every family needs to be addressed in a different way? Not necessarily. Understanding the variations and individual needs, however, is necessary for developing skilled dialogues. Skilled dialogues can make collaboration culturally responsive. The key qualities of skilled dialogue, determined by Barrea & Kramer (2012) are respect, reciprocity, and responsiveness. Respect, from the perspective of the skilled dialogue framework is equivalent to honoring one’s identity. Similarly, Barrea & Kramer (2012) define reciprocity as honoring each others’ expression of identity. Responsiveness honors beliefs, perspectives and connected behaviors, no matter how different they are from the recipient’s. The above definitions also indicate that educators need to leave behind the control approach and build up relationships. The application of the above framework is going to be tried in the current case study, in order to develop a strategy to deal with the two diversity-group family’s challenges.

Discussion

Taking individual family diversity into consideration is extremely beneficial when setting up a proactive support system to create home-school-family links and collaboration projects (Coll et al., 1996). The preferences of the two women in the case study and their culture are different, even if there are similarities. One of them is married; the other one is a single mother. While both of them aim for a better English literacy, they face different parenting challenges. Ana’s daughter has behavioral issues while Lucia’s child faces learning difficulties. The main challenges identified above are: linguistic, social and cultural diversity, marginalized status and exclusion. The below review of strategies will provide an overview of intervention methods used and recommended in classrooms today.

Tackling Family and Socialization Differences – Culturally Responsive Teaching

Family differences are present in every aspect of parenting and are relevant to home-school collaboration. In the two examples currently examined, both parents are immigrants and children are likely to have a strong bound to the culture of Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. It is not said when they moved to the United States, but their parents were definitely brought up in an environment that is different from America. The socialization patterns of parents influence children’s socialization, and vice versa, as Van Den Bulck & Van Den Bergh (2009) confirm, “influence and effects can go in both directions between all members of the family” (p. 35).

Ruggs & Hebl (2012) recommend that curriculum change should be introduced to implement culturally responsive teaching in the classroom. This calls for curriculum modification, teaching style changes and the implementation of cultural awareness in classrooms. Brown (2007) reviewed four different frameworks for creating culturally responsive teaching environments. The common elements of the frameworks are developing a cultural diversity knowledge base, understanding the lives and ways of thinking of all students, inclusion and cross-cultural communication promotion.

Culturally responsive teaching can improve children’s involvement in the classroom, make them more comfortable in the environment and allow them to talk about their cultural experiences outside of the school. Coll et al. (1996, p. 1896) state that “Inhibiting and promoting environments in turn directly influence the adaptive cultures that are created in response to children’s and families’ experience within these environments”. This statement indicates that in the case of Ana and Lucia’ children, creating an inclusive and culturally relevant, responsive school environment would support the children’s cognitive and social development. It could be used to deal with the children’s underdeveloped cognitive and social skills, by creating common goals, shared responsibility and family engagement. Coll et al. ‘s (1996) integrative child development framework for promoting developmental competencies in minority children emphasizes the importance of adaptive culture and supportive environments. Appendix B describes the complexity of integrative model in supporting diverse learners.

Skilled Dialogue Framework

Applying the skilled dialogue framework (Barrea & Kramer 2012), the authors would like to take a look at possible solutions to the problems the two families face. The common challenges of the two mothers (Ana and Lucia) are cultural and linguistic diversity, low socio-economic status, parenting issues, and isolation from the rest of society. Even though the two attend ESL classes – to improve their English vocabulary, communication, and grammar skills – together and socialize with each other, they are likely to be still marginalized as the population attending these classes is made up of minority groups. Further, they would not have an extensive knowledge about the American culture, customs, school system and expectations. Choosing relationship over control in this case would mean that the educators would try and understand, respect and embrace the two women’s family’s cultural diversity. The main steps of building a skilled dialogue are detailed below.

Welcoming: Welcoming is a strategy that communicates the acceptance and dignity of the other person. Using the strategy of welcoming, the two women should be invited to school, in order to meet educators and observe classes. They could discuss issues, expectations and potential problems, risks for children, related to their children’s diversity. Depending on the school’s demographic profile, this welcoming can take place as a group parent visit with other mothers and fathers or on an individual basis. Ana should also be invited to the Head Start classroom to understand the schedule, program, educational objectives and priorities better.

• Through this approach, educators can accept the existence of different views and perspectives of children/parents based on cultural diversity. The educators and parents should be open to accepting and respecting different views, approaches and come to compromise based on their own perspectives.
• Appreciating: Appreciating involves the recognition and valuing of others’ voice. When Ana and Lucia agree to work together with the school, and the Head Start coordinators to resolve issues, their efforts should be appreciated. Likewise, the women should also appreciate the school’s efforts.
• Sense-making: Sense-making is a strategy that tries to understand other people’s      words and behavior in a cultural context. Using the sense-making approach, the women would be able to support education staff in finding out what causes the difficulties of their children in school/Head Start. A discussion about diversity, preferences, and attitudes would not only help the mothers understand the viewpoint of the educators, but vice versa, as well. Making sense of diversity, differences are the first step towards respect. It is possible that Ana’s biting is a result of cultural differences, or it can be a response to exclusion and confusion, maybe she is bullied because of her diversity.
• Joining: Joining is important in acknowledging that the problem the parent and educator face is common. It is an opposite of shifting responsibility and a way of developing effective collaboration. Joining is a strategy to support taking joint responsibility for issues. During this process, the mothers would set up a plan together with educators to improve learning and behavioral outcomes. It is important to find a common goal or vision the two parties can work towards. The mothers would create a plan to support the school in the process, and the school would implement changes to strengthen the benefits of the intervention. Lucia should increase home support in learning and understand the importance of reading at home. Ana should talk with her daughter about biting and explain together with the Head Start teacher that it is unacceptable behavior.
• Harmonizing: Harmonizing is a crucial aspect of joining. It is based in the process to compromise, based on diverse views and attitudes. Diverse perspectives need to be brought into harmony in order to create a plan that both parties agree on and can implement.

Supporting the Socialization of Ana and Lucia’s Children

Socialization Support

In order to engage successfully and join cultures, implementing the Puente Project (Gonzalez & Moll, 2002) or an intervention plan similar to it would be beneficial. Gonzalez & Moll (2002)talk about home visits to families; however, they also suggest that visits of culturally diverse students to communities where they can absorb and learn culture would enhance the positive effects of this method on children’s socialization. Learning attitudes and cultures through observation are not only useful for the children, but supports educators as well in understanding diverse students and families. Involving communities would help the two mothers to overcome their fear of rejection. It is likely that mothers are friends because they attend the same ESL class together, but they still hold a marginalized status in the community, so do their children.

Family Well-being

The Office of Head Start (2009) emphasizes one particular positive outcome goal of the implementation of Head Start in schools. The document states that the program should promote family safety, health and financial security. Promoting family well-being among families of low socio-economic status can create trust and engagement and support families in helping their children develop. The program recommends the evaluation of the family’s health, mental health, safety, housing situation and financial literacy in order to ensure that home environments are suitable for development and learning of children.

Responsiveness of Teachers

Han & Thomas (2010) talk about the importance of social competence in the classroom. From the case studies examined, it is evident that both children would need support in this area. There is a close relationship between early year’s social competence and later academic achievements. This calls for a responsive, proactive approach of educators to recognize and deal with the signals of lack of confidence and withdrawal. In the article, the authors bring up the example of a boy who experiences disappointment and withdraws in order to avoid conflict. This is one way of dealing with the problem. Another way, described in the case study is how Ana’s child behaves: responds with physical violence. Educators at the Head Start program and children’s school need to become multiculturalism responsive teachers (Han &Thomas, 2010) the two children come from a high-context culture of Latin-America. In these societies, social identities and group interests are more valued than in America. Withdrawn behavior is more accepted in this culture than in America, where they usually result in peer rejection. Developing a multicultural awareness should be based on learning and observation. However, the observations and themes identified in diverse cultures of children also need to be discussed with parents to gain positive affirmation. That is the reason why strengthening home-school interaction is essential to success.

Dealing with Behavior Issues and Physical Aggression

Kaiser (2003) states, that challenging behavior is in close relation with feeling alone, excluded and being confused. The author also states “if a child’s negative self-image is very strong, he will try to get others to treat him negatively – because in his own eyes he couldn’t possibly be worthy of positive attention” (Kaiser, 2003, p. 6).  It is also possible that Ana’s daughter is seeking attention through aggressive behavior; further, Ana’s daughter’s behavior and biting can interfere not only with her socialization but cognitive development, as well. This behavior is harmful for the child, peers and adults in the education environment. Ana’s child is clearly at risk of developing social problems or failure at school, according to Kaiser (2003). Several reasons can lie behind this behavior pattern, and they need to be revealed through observation and the previously mentioned “sense-making” approach. The child is either not aware of behavioral standards, due to her cultural diversity, the inappropriateness of her behavior or what is expected of her. All the above reasons can be tackled through skilled dialogue. The educators need to understand and accept cultural differences and work together with Ana to find out how the child’s behavior can be changed. An integrated approach is needed, when the child feels safe, appreciated, and understood. Creating this environment would be much easier if the mother was involved.

Language Diversity

Language diversity is most likely to be in the background of Lucia’s 8 year old child’s inappropriate progress in reading. Children socialize through language and think in different ways than native English speakers. It is likely that in Lucia’s family, conversations at home are not conducted in English, and this affects not only the cultural development of the child, but their understanding of rules, school communication as well. It is probable that Lucia’s English skills are limited as she attends ESL classes. Therefore, she would be challenged to read books in English with the child. However, setting up a language development program that involves both the parent and the child and teaches Lucia not only English for her personal use, but the methods of supporting her child would be useful. Either the school or the Head Start Program could organize regular events where parents, whose first language is not English, would be able to learn how to help their children with their reading and English assignments. Kaiser (2003) created a framework that could be implemented in the case of Lucia’s child. The information that the author shared during the webinar intended for educators can be useful for all parents who would like to support their children in dual language learning. The program includes:

1. Understanding the process of learning another language
2. Learning key words in the child’s language
3. Interaction with peers
4. Considering the child’s interest to create engagement.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Based on the above review of theories, recommendations and frameworks, the writer would like to suggest an integrated-approach intervention and collaboration plan that is suitable to tackle both linguistic and cultural diversity. Acknowledging, accepting, embracing and making sense of other cultures can only be successful when there is a proactive collaboration among communities, educators and families. As the two mothers’ children have serious behavioral and learning difficulties, there is a need for active communication. Home visits might help educators make sense of children’s underachievement/behavioral issues. Likewise, the mothers would be able to better understand the educational system, school culture and expectations if they visited the classroom in person. It would also be useful to involve the two mothers in school volunteering programs; and in this way strengthen their links with not only the school but the rest of the community, as well. The mothers would be parent-leaders, and – as assumed – they are bilingual and take a course; they could assist other parents and interpret conversations during meetings. Lucia should be given extra support to understand the different ways she can support her eight year old child in making progress in reading and literacy. The Head Start program should support both mothers in harmonizing cultures and support the development of their children.

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