Journal #10

                While reading “Finding Ways In” by Collingnon, Men, & Tan, I was struck by a few specific things in the study. First of all, I think it’s important to note the Southeast Asian parents’ concern with their noninvolvement in their children’s education. It is in their culture to leave the teaching to the teachers – though they do want the best education possible for their children, they trust the teachers to do their job, so they try to “stay out of the way.”  It’s not that these parents don’t care about what’s best for their child, it’s just a cultural divide that we as teachers need to be aware of. Similarly, since many of the Southeast Asian parents are unfamiliar to the American educational system, they might not even know how to become involved even if they decide to. It’s valuable to consider these cultural differences when we are faced with parents’ noninvolvement in our future classrooms, and do the extra work to reach out and make sure parents are comfortable and welcome to participate in their child’s education.

                A second thing that really hit me was that many of these Southeast Asian families from war torn areas chose to relocate to unfamiliar host countries rather than face death or oppression in their homeland. Neither of these choices is really optimal. A lot of immigrant families have a strong support system in their new country, like friends or relatives who may have immigrated years before and have started to find their way around and understand the culture. These refugees don’t really have many people to turn to who may have had similar experiences. In many cases, the refuges were a family (sometimes torn apart from other family members or suffering the loss of someone) plopped down in a strange new land, not knowing the language or culture, and trying to find success for themselves and their children. They’ve just moved from a war torn land where their only goal was basic survival and safety, and now they have to work towards the next tiers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This means they have to find a place to live, a job to make money, a way to fit in in a new country…  A life turned upside down like this has huge psychological consequences for both children and parents, and as teachers, we must be aware of the things our students may have gone through and never assume anything about them.

                One last thing that I think is worth mentioning is the trouble that immigrant students can face when acclimating to a totally new culture. The school system is presumably where the new student will learn most about American culture. Teachers need to be aware of things like using idioms or even things as simple as raising hands or doing group work – these things might not be popular aspects of the new student’s education in his home country (if he was able to even receive an education in his first country!) I think it’s essential that immigrant students are made to feel as comfortable as possible in a classroom that will most likely be totally outside of their comfort zone. Equally as important is that we try to reach out to the families, to make immigrant families feel welcomed into our country and our schools.