Parent Connection

Guest Columnist - Dr. Esther Monclova-Johnson

Note: The following guest column shares insights from the VBCPS Director of Equity Affairs, Dr. Esther Monclova-Johnson. The information provided is directed at both parents and teachers, and underscores the critical partnership that must exist between schools and the community in order to ensure success for all learners.

In Partnership to Build Understanding

As adults- parents, teachers, educators, we want what is best for our children. We wish to protect them and shield them from the negative things that are present in this world. We want them to grow up healthy, be successful and become complete, whole human beings. The hope is that they also endeavor to become tolerant, accepting and inclusive individuals that are resilient and can overcome all of life's major challenges. The minimum expectation is that schools, classrooms and teachers will partner with parents to provide a foundation for the development of these basic life skills. Our mutual goal is to prepare our children to meet all of life's richness and diversity with open minds, creativity, enthusiasm and fervor.

We must create schools that foster a warm and welcoming climate, reach out and value the community and marginalized families, and infuse social responsibility into the curriculum. They should be focused on building a school climate and classroom community where students develop connections with each other, a deeper understanding and respect for diversity and a sense that each of them are an important member of the school. : (George Theoharis: The School Leaders our Children Deserve: 2009)

Meaningful partnerships only happen in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. Successful schools build this trust by empowering parents through communication and support. Teachers share with parents their knowledge of how children learn to read and offer practical information and strategies to help young readers tackle each new skill on the way to literacy. Parents educate teachers about their child's strengths and needs, as well as family interests and concerns. And they help make decisions that affect their child's reading program and how the family will help.

Cultural continuity between home and school occurs through shared cultural beliefs and expectations. On the other hand, cultural discontinuity occurs in various ways when parents and teachers do not explicitly share values, beliefs, or practices. For example, if teachers are permissive in disciplining students in the classroom while parents expect stricter disciplining, this discontinuity may create problems. When students experience learning problems, a strong dialogue between parents and teachers can uncover underlying beliefs and practices that may shed light on the immediate concern.

The driving assumption of parent-school partnerships is that the family, school, and community are interrelated because children learn and act in all those places according to their family values and beliefs. Whether parents believe it or not, they know information about how their children learn, such as their interests and their abilities. Such information is essential to the success of classroom curriculum. (Gaitens, Connecting Home and School, Building Culturally Responsive Classrooms: 2006)

Successful partnerships don't just happen. They take good communication skills and a positive approach to involvement.

1. Create a welcoming environment in the classroom, and encourage a "family-friendly" culture in the school.
2. Expect cooperation and collaboration from parents. Most parents are eager to help their children learn to read, especially if they know which activities will make the most of their limited hours together.
3. Tell parents what they can expect their child to learn in school next year. Give them a list of literacy and math milestones they can watch for.
4. Explain why you do what you do in the classroom, and how the parent's role fits in. This is especially important if the school has recently changed its curriculum or approach to reading instruction.
5. Communicate openly and often. Build trust, so when it comes time to suggest parent interventions, they are eager to participate and know you're not wasting their time.
6. Actively listen to parents to learn their values, their needs, and their level of understanding.

While it's true that most families are eager to help their children learn, some of the most at risk students come from families who may not be eager to participate in school activities. The culture of most schools is more congruent with families whose cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds are mainstream, European American, and middle class. This is evident in the numbers of European parents who traditionally participate in the school's organized activities, as opposed to those parents from culturally diverse, often working-class families. Their absence in school activities has been interpreted as indifference about their children's schooling. However, vast research shows that culturally different parents do care about their children's school performance. The problem is that they lack the cultural knowledge to participate actively. (Gaitan, 2006)

Successfully reaching out to these families:

1. Learn to observe, and recognize the strengths in each family. Whatever the form or degree, all families have strengths. Focus on those and use them to explore ways the family can help with literacy initiatives.
2. Assess your values! When working with families from different cultures, develop an awareness of your own cultural and family values and beliefs, and recognize how they influence your attitudes and behaviors. Then develop an understanding of how the cultural values and lifestyle choices of your students' parents influence their attitudes and beliefs.
3. Promote positive relationships:
   1. Allow the family to tell its own story and listen carefully to family members.
   2. Provide accurate, honest information to parent questions. Avoid jargon and use language that family members can understand.
   3. Give parents choices and individualized alternatives for working with their child.
   4. Avoid using guilt or blame to motivate parents.
   5. Introduce parents to other staff or professionals who might help them (i.e. reading tutors, media specialist, etc.)
   6. Never assume your training or experience has given you more knowledge about the child than the parents have.
   7. Demonstrate warmth, sensitivity and acceptance of yourself and of the family.
   8. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know" and suggest someone who can offer more help or information.
   9. Examine your attitude toward children who struggle with learning. Focus on her/his strengths, not on what he/she can't do.
   10. Respect the family's right to choose its own level of participation.
   11. Introduce the family to other parents who have successfully worked with home activity. Parent to parent networking can be a powerful tool.
4. Model activities first. If you suspect that the parents may struggle with literacy or math themselves, model the activities before sending home the sheet. Use stickers colored markers or other tools to create visual cues to remind parents what to do for each activity.

Source: Parents and Teachers as Partners ; Rockwell, Andre, Hawley. 1996

Our children enter our school and classrooms and interact with all kinds of people. Some may be very different than what they see on a daily basis in their homes, communities, playgrounds, churches or synagogues. There is an opportunity for many "first ever" experiences and a wonderful opportunity to learn, grow and share from each other. These encounters should not be overshadowed by fear, misconceptions, half-truths, stereotypes and misperceptions. These are opportunities for all of us to grow in understanding and be able to accept the rich contributions to our lives that occur. The formal and informal celebrations, recognitions and presentations that go on throughout the year are especially important as they richly contribute to the cultural understanding of our children and adults. The children are our future, and we do need to teach them well. We need to grow in understanding, in acceptance and in the belief that we all contribute positively to this world.

Dr. Esther Monclova-Johnson

As director of equity affairs, Dr. Esther Monclova-Johnson serves as an ombudsman for employees and parents for issues regarding cultural diversity and equity; collaborates with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction on the development of programs and curricula involving School Board goals and initiatives related to the academic performance of minority students; collaborates with the Department of Human Resources in the development of recruitment and retention strategies to help encourage a diverse workforce; and working with community organizations to promote the division's equity initiatives. Monclova-Johnson reports directly to Dr. James G. Merrill, superintendent of Virginia Beach City Public Schools.

For the past decade, Virginia Beach City Public Schools has initiated a number of important diversity initiatives over the years, including establishing a diversity task force and a diversity youth ambassadors program. However, Merrill recently created the director of equity affairs position to help ensure that the school division forges outreaches that are systematic, strategic and successful. A native of New York City, Monclova-Johnson graduated from the city school system before enrolling Carlow College in Pittsburgh where she received a Bachelor of Science in speech pathology and audiology. She later earned a Master of Arts degree in that field from Cleveland State University. She received a doctorate in urban education from Cleveland State.

Monclova-Johnson started her career in education as a speech/language pathologist in the Pittsburgh Public Schools from 1976 to 1980. From 1981 to 1987, she worked as a speech/language pathologist in the Cleveland Public Schools.

Monclova-Johnson became coordinator of curriculum/dropout prevention program coordinator in the Cleveland schools in 1988. In 1991, Monclova-Johnson assumed the post of supervisor of student activities/health education. She also oversaw the school system's bilingual multicultural education office. From 1998 to 1999, she served as manager of human resources in the district. Monclova-Johnson was appointed as a regional superintendent of Cleveland school in 1999. In 2002, the served was promoted to be the deputy chief/supervising superintendent in Cleveland.

In 2004, Monclova-Johnson became the director of the Office of Civil Rights Compliance and Multicultural Affairs of the District of Columbia Public Schools. She was appointed executive director for extended education program in the D.C. district in 2005.

Among her many awards and memberships, Monclova-Johnson was named Hispanic of the Year in Cleveland in 2001.Contact Esther Monclova-Johnson by email esther.monclova-johnson@vbschools.com or phone 757.263.6964.