A student with a disability is first, and foremost, a student who is a member of the school community. In order for parents of students with disabilities to be meaningfully involved as a member of their child’s Individualized Education Program team, they first need to feel welcomed and valued. They must also understand how “regular education” works. Show
When schools are intentional and proactive in using culturally-competent strategies to provide information and support to families who are from diverse cultures or speak another language, they pave the way for meaningful family engagement, and better outcomes for students.
About Us –The Minnesota School and Family Connection project is a 5-year collaborative effort by PACER Center, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts to increase effective family engagement with culturally and linguistically diverse families, with a focus on families of children with disabilities. MDE defines family engagement as “the collaboration of families, schools and communities as active partners in the shared responsibilities of ensuring each student’s success in lifelong learning and development.” The project has been funded by the MDE’s federal State Personnel Development Grant award. Schools with high numbers of children with disabilities who are also English Language learners or from minority backgrounds face unique challenges to student achievement. Research, as well as experience, has shown parent involvement and engagement to be key factors in student success. Building on a foundation of current research and supported by parent focus group and school staff feedback, PACER parent advocates and multicultural specialists worked with school staff to design customized training and resources for families and educators. The strategies, activities, tools and resources have been researched, produced, piloted, refined, and made available for use by educators and families. Training videos, research literature, practice guides and tools are offered for educators and school administrators to build effective home-school communication and promote meaningful family engagement. Families will find corresponding resources created just for them and translated into Spanish, Somali and Hmong on our Parent Page. Be sure to explore the parent tools and resources and share them with families you are working with, or use them in your parent outreach events at school.
Thanks for all you do! The parent is the expert on their child. The educator has expertise in their field. Together we can make a difference! “I am not sure about school expectations and the level of support for such engagement. I feel the school needs to provide encouragement and support for parent involvement.” “We do care and want the family’s support. We cannot do it alone.” ~ A classroom teacher
As our society becomes more culturally diverse, organizations are understanding the need to work with other organizations in order to "turn up the sound," so their voices are heard and their issues will be addressed. This means that individuals and institutions can no longer deny the sometimes uncomfortable realities of cultural diversity. Organizers and activists are realizing that we have to come to grips with our multicultural society, or we won't get anything done. But how do we do that? One Wisconsin labor activist says, "We want to include communities of color, but we just don't know where to begin. We hold open meetings, but no people of color even show up." A neighborhood organization member in South Los Angeles, says, "Last year, we decided to move toward organizing in the Latino community for the simple reason that we have a lot of new immigrants from Central America in the neighborhoods. We wanted to make an authentic multicultural organization, but we learned an important lesson -- it doesn't just happen." Many organizers have begun to come to grips with diversity issues, even though they may not have all the answers. These organizers realize they have to develop new strategies and tactics to attract multicultural interest in their collaborative initiatives. They also know there will be problems to solve if their collaborations are to be effective. This section will discuss how to help organizations collaborate effectively with people of different cultures. What is multicultural collaboration?First of all, what's the difference between a coalition, a collaboration, and a multicultural collaboration? A coalition involves two or more organizations working together around an issue or a common set of interrelated issues that they can't address on their own. The purpose is to harness enough influence and resources to have an impact on an issue beyond the grasp of one group alone. The life of a coalition is usually shorter than the life of the complex issue or issues it faces. When the issue or issues are resolved the coalition disbands and the organizations go their separate ways. Coalition members understand that there will be shared risks, responsibilities, and rewards. The level of commitment is moderate. Diversity in a coalition is a strength as well as a problem because there is often dissension. A collaboration involves two or more organizations working together on multiple issues and goals in a long-term commitment. This is the highest and most difficult level of working with others, involving formalized organizational relationships. There is a long-term commitment and a focus on a range of issues of wide concern. Turf protection can be high and the ability to let go of control over the direction of the group is critical. Involved organizations share resources (develop, implement, and evaluate programs), establish policy, and jointly conduct educational programs. The core values of collaboration are mutual respect, a valuing of difference, and a high level of trust.
A multicultural collaboration is between two or more groups or organizations, each comprised of members from different cultural backgrounds and orientations (e.g., Latino, Native American Indian, white) or with goals or missions oriented to populations with differing cultures (e.g., African-American, Asian-American). The cultural differences among groups may consist of ethnic heritage, values, traditions, languages, history, sense of self, and racial attitudes. Any of these cultural features can become barriers to working together. Unless they become part of the relationship, the collaboration will probably be challenged. Culture is one of the most powerful forces in our world. It's central to what we see, how we make sense of our world, and how we express ourselves. As people from different cultural groups work together, values sometimes conflict. When we don't understand each other we sometimes react in ways that make a partnership ineffective. Often we're not aware that cultural differences are the root of miscommunication. In an effective multicultural collaboration, as with any other collaboration, the participants must have a sense of common purpose. But they must consider that different cultural groups may have differing ideas about how leaders are chosen and exercise power, and about how conflict and disagreement should be managed. For example, someone from an American Indian tribe may believe that a leader can be respected only if they are an elder, while this may not be an important factor to someone in another group. A multicultural collaboration requires a plan, lots of patience, and determination to confront old attitudes in new ways by pulling in partners usually not involved. In order for a multicultural collaboration to be effective, the groups involved must overcome differences to promote a unified effort. Because of different skill levels and expertise, the collaboration may seem uneven at first. And, initially, participants may come for different reasons. For example, some may have been invited to take on responsibilities others don't want; others may want a scapegoat in case things don't work. But if the focus is on the common goal, shared decision making, defined roles, and setting time lines, the organizations involved can make it work. Why is multicultural collaboration important?
When should you commit to multicultural collaboration?Vicente, a community activist, suggests a way to think about collaborating with people from different cultures: "To me what's important is where do we make connections? Where do our pasts tie in? We all come from agrarian backgrounds at some point in our past that are very rich with folklore, history, oral history, and values." Another man, Estevan, says, "If I see that you're hurting, that there's something wrong with you, and I can help you out -- why do I have to care about what color of skin you have, what color of eyes you have, or where you come from? In New Mexico we say, 'Mi casa es tu casa.' My house is your house." The comments above indicate that the human connection can be reason enough to work at overcoming cultural barriers. The following are other significant indicators of when you should commit to multicultural collaboration:
It's important not to go blindly into a collaboration. Organizations should be aware of the potential problems and to realize that all collaborations may not be voluntary. Circumstances may place organizations in partnerships they may not have anticipated. For example, competition for increasingly limited funds, federal or state mandates for the establishment of initiatives, and social crises may create non-voluntary collaborations. Forces such as these may turn a step-by-step process of recognition, initiation, structuring, and definition into one giant leap. A giant leap without forethought can lead to a painful fall. Finally, organizations thinking about collaborating must ask themselves, given the potential problems, if they should collaborate at all. Is it an impossible goal? On the other hand, the problems shouldn't scare anyone off if there's potential to work them out with special effort. There won't be unanimous agreement on everything. That's OK because healthy disagreement can be productive and desirable. At the same time, there may be lots of ways to work together and experience the many rewards gained through building the relationships needed to do the work. What are some guidelines for multicultural collaboration?Cultural questions about who we are and how we identify ourselves are at the heart of multicultural collaboration. Consider these guidelines as you confront the communication barriers:
How do you build a multicultural collaboration?There are three steps to developing any collaboration:
Multicultural collaboration requires considerations that may not be involved in other collaborations. There are 6 components in building a multicultural collaboration: Formulate and state clearly the vision and mission of the collaboration to model the multicultural relationships.
Conduct strategic outreach and membership development.
Establish structures and operating procedures that reinforce equity.
Practice new and various modes of communication and special support.Find out if anyone needs special support to participate effectively. In any invitations to meetings or events (which could be written in more than one language) or follow-up conversations, ask if there is a need for translators, translated materials, sign language interpreters for the deaf, large-print materials, or audio versions of materials. Many groups automatically communicate through writing and speaking in English. This does not take into account language differences that make it hard for people to understand information or participate equally in discussions and decision making. Special efforts to communicate in multiple languages may be required in order to ensure the full participation of a diverse membership.
Create leadership opportunities for everyone, especially minorities and women.
Engage in activities that are culturally sensitive or that directly fight oppression.
Building a multicultural collaboration entails changing the way people think, perceive, and communicate. There is a difference between recognizing cultural differences and consciously incorporating inclusive and anti-discriminatory attitudes in all aspects of the organization. Embracing cultural differences is not something separate from your issue-oriented work. It is at the core of the group's perspective on issues, possible solutions, and membership and operating procedures. The organization's structure, leadership, and activities must reflect multiple perspectives, styles, and priorities. Changing how the organization looks and acts is just the first step in the ongoing process of creating a reality that maximizes and celebrates diversity. In SummaryCollaboration is a process involving organizations working toward a goal they can't reach alone. The process requires long-term commitment and an understanding that there will be shared risks, responsibilities, and rewards. Successful collaboration must be based on mutual respect, a valuing of difference, trust, a plan, lots of patience, determination to adopt new attitudes and pull in partners not usually involved, and, most of all, a sense of common purpose. Multicultural collaboration adds the challenge of overcoming the communication barriers of different cultures, ethnic heritage, values, traditions, language, history, sense of self, and racial attitudes. These barriers must be conquered in order for the collaboration to succeed. Participants in an effective multicultural collaboration must have inclusive leadership that understands and strives for diversity, while dealing with problems and conflict along the way. If the focus remains on the common goal and equal power for everyone involved, the collaboration will have a great chance of success. |