Connections to Social Justice Standards: Identity, Diversity
Strategies:
1. Recognition of Key Relationships
2. Building Relationships Among Caregivers
3. Home Visits
4. Beginning-of-the-Year Questionnaires or Conversations
5. Use of Home Languages
When educators take the time to build and sustain engagement with students’ caregivers, they illustrate social justice in action, showing students that their identities and living situations are valuable and worthy of understanding. This approach recognizes that students’ linguistic, cultural and familial diversity are strengths and resources to support student learning, a concept also known as funds of knowledge.
Recognition of Key Relationships
Educators can signal their interest in and appreciation for their students by developing relationships and partnering with the caregivers in students’ lives. For example, teachers can invite caregivers to share knowledge about their student’s experiences, interests, hopes, struggles, and family cultures and traditions.
Additionally, educators can maintain open communication with caregivers, learning about what supports have worked well for students at home and sharing advice on how families can support their student’s education.
Building Relationships Among Caregivers
Building relationships among families benefits students of all identities by introducing them to different family structures and traditions. These relationships can also help caregivers feel more connected to the school community, generate a grassroots network of support for social justice education and provide opportunities for families to work together with their children on social justice issues.
Home Visits
Home visits can be a great way to begin building relationships and strengthen communication with those families who would welcome such engagement. Noting local laws and policies about home visits, educators can transform their relationship with a student’s family by visiting the student’s home—if and only if the family agrees—and understanding the home environment and culture. To accomplish this, teachers can conduct home visits in a tiered fashion:
- First, work on establishing mutual trust and respect with the caregivers.
- Then, ask open-ended questions about the student’s daily practices.
- Once genuine trust is established, seek to learn more about the family and their history, culture and educational background.
Beginning-of-the-Year Questionnaires or Conversations
Teachers can gather valuable information about students by connecting with families and caregivers early in the school year. Ask family members about students’ strengths, interests, challenges and lives in and out of school, as well as caregivers’ hopes and fears. These conversations provide important background, set a collaborative tone and support culturally responsive classroom practices.
Consider asking students and families to work together to answer the following questions:
- Who is in your family?
- What’s your favorite thing to do as a family?
- What makes your family unique?
- What’s your favorite holiday, and how do you celebrate it?
For additional ideas on how to build a partnership with families at the beginning of the year, read Teaching Tolerance Award winner Liz Kleinrock’s suggestions in “Families Are Such an Asset.”
Use of Home Languages
To be truly inclusive, all take-home materials should be published in students’ home languages. Because asking students to translate can put them in an awkward position, it is best practice to use a school-employed translator for these communications. Like all take-home materials, these communications with family should be checked for assumptions about circumstances, including household resources, family traditions, cultural practices or political affiliations. For more information on language access, read LFJ’s guide on Best Practices for Serving English Language Learners and Their Families.
For in-person events, such as conferences and town halls, and for meetings about special education services, schools should work with interpreters. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that schools take necessary actions, including arranging for an interpreter, to ensure parents understand the proceedings of an individualized education program meeting (IDEA Sec. 300.322 (e)).
Teachers can use online services for quick, short translations. To learn more about available online services, please refer to Appendix C: Online Supplement. Free apps like TalkingPoints have built-in translators. Although imperfect, they can be helpful when sending short messages, such as posting reminders, sending a positive note home or writing captions for photos. When signing up for the app, families and educators can select which languages they want to use.
