Educator Reflections: Using Mothers' Core Values to Guide Teaching and School
Involvement Practice
Teacher Nieves Torres reflects on engaging immigrant Latina mothers.
I am a first generation Latina teacher, administrator,
researcher, and mother of two grown children. I have had the good fortune of
working with immigrant populations since 1971, when I was hired to be the first
bilingual kindergarten teacher at Skinner Elementary in Brownsville, Texas.
This border-town experience was my introduction to working with diverse families.
My doctoral dissertation also focused on successful educational advocacy of
a group of immigrant Latina women on behalf of their children. In all of these
experiences, I have learned that immigrant Latinas yearn to provide a better
life for their families and want their children to acquire a good education.
Their understanding is that formal education offers an entrée into financial
security that will, in turn, provide them with options to become actualized
and contributing members of this society.
Based on my experiences, below I offer reflections on some of the core values
about home life and community that were held by immigrant Latina mothers, as
well as suggestions for how to extend these specific values to guide the structure
and process of teaching and learning. I conclude with reflections on some core
values about school participation, with some of the implications they may have
for involvement practices.
Core Values About Home Life and Community
Orderly routines for children and families. The Latinas I worked with
placed high value on maintaining household chores, homework assignments, appropriate
sleeping habits, and positive interactions among family members. Teachers can
create similar routines for student learning and parent interactions. For example,
teachers may wish to hold meetings with parents every time a new unit is introduced
to outline the unit's title, vocabulary words, math concepts, and social science
discussions. Books, music, and videos that reinforce the thematic unit may be
loaned out to families, community resources that enhance those units may be
pointed out, and parents may be recruited to read, do crafts, or supervise on
field trips. In charging parents with defined roles and responsibilities on
a regular basis, teachers communicate to parents that they are needed and respected.
Persistence and follow through at home. The Latinas I worked with had
high expectations for their children and were willing and committed to helping
their children at home. However, they required specific information and role-playing
opportunities to be able to follow through on teacher requests. For example,
it is not enough to tell parents to read to children every night. Parents want
to know which books to read, what questions and comments to make, and tactics
that educators typically use when reading a book.
Traditional cultural practices. The Latinas I have worked with value
cultural traditions surrounding native language, food, music, and customs. Mothers
showed dedication, commitment, and hard work in reinforcing these practices.
Teachers can solicit parents' help to identify such cultural traditions and
celebrate them in the classroom-for example, by integrating them into the curriculum.
Teachers can also frame their own classroom practices as traditions that they
value and maintain based on their own personal, cultural, or professional experiences.
Positive feedback on parenting efforts. The women I came to know enjoyed
receiving praise for a delicious meal from their husbands, parents, and children.
They similarly appreciated when teachers noticed their parenting efforts. Teachers
can show their appreciation by complimenting mothers on their children's grooming,
good manners, knowledge, or any other admirable quality.
Courteous and respectful child behavior. Courtesy by children in the
home was highly regarded among the women with whom I worked. Teachers can reinforce
this value by praising their students and congratulating their students' parents
for children's good behavior. Parents will be proud to hear that their child
sets the tone for the other children in regard to behavior. These messages can
be conveyed by positive notes, phone calls home, or other means.
Lifelong learning. The Latina mothers with whom I worked were interested
in many forms of adult learning. Many of them had moved to this country in search
of the opportunity to better their lives. They want to learn English, gain U.S.
citizenship, and improve their parenting skills. Teachers and schools can inform
parents about ESL classes, citizenship classes and legal assistance, family
centers and parent advisory councils, and other opportunities for adult education
in the school and community. Mothers also valued literacy skills not only for
their children but also for themselves. They demonstrated this value, in part,
by actively seeking out literacy training. Teachers can explain to parents the
reading program and how it matches their child's mode of learning. They can
also support parents' own literacy learning by offering books in parents' native
language to read and discuss at parent meetings or book clubs or even invite
parents to create their own storybooks about their migration to this country.
Resources in and around one's community. The Latinas with whom I worked
wanted to learn about public facilities and learning opportunities for their
children in the community, such as libraries, pools, community centers, and
summer school. They also wanted information that would improve their child and
family health, nutrition, and housing.
Core Values About School Participation
Membership in a group or learning community. The Latinas I have known
wanted a sense that they belonged to a group. This group can include other parents
as well as teachers, such that a learning community where all participants feel
welcome, safe, and confident begins to emerge. Phone trees can connect parents
with one another, with Spanish-speaking parents calling other Spanish-speaking
parents. With a strong peer network parents can advocate, tutor, and cheer each
other on to success. Parent–teacher connections can thrive when teachers
call parents by their first names and vice versa. Classroom social events can
build connections and strategic planning meetings can assist the development
of a group with shared goals and action plans, especially when discussion and
differing opinions are welcomed.
Accountability for those in authority. The Latinas I worked with felt
that school board members, superintendents, directors, principals, and teachers
should all be held accountable for their work. But parents need assistance in
how to interact with those who make educational decisions that impact their
child. For example, teachers can invite a school board member to a discussion
at a parent meeting, making sure to enlist a translator for Spanish speakers.
Similarly, parents will gladly uphold their responsibility to reinforce learning
at home. However, in order to carry out these roles, parents need clear directives
from teachers on what they can do to support their children's learning, how
to do it, and in what time frame, followed by an opportunity to report their
success and challenges. They also value receiving critical feedback about their
involvement efforts and their child's progress. Latinas respect teachers highly
and take their comments and validation quite seriously.
Volunteer work. The mothers with whom I worked wanted to feel useful
in enhancing their children's knowledge. Many attended elementary schools in
Mexico where an emphasis was placed on crafts. Therefore, one way to use their
skills in the classroom was as project helpers, tutors, storytellers, and singers.
Clear instructions to parents and a space for parent–student interactions
can foster efficacy and communicate the value teachers place on volunteering.
Even a warm smile for a greeting can help a volunteer parent feel welcome when
they do not speak English.
Programs that offer children an educational edge. The Latinas I worked
with learned to gather program information from and advocate on behalf of their
children with the school district. Teachers can share information with parents
about special programs that will give their children a good start in education,
such as Head Start and Even Start, full-day prekindergarten, and dual language
or bilingual programs. They can also actively advocate to help parents gain
access these opportunities.
Leadership. The Latinas I met were often the best advocates for change
in schools. These mothers seized leadership opportunities. Teachers can encourage
this by moving into a participant role and inviting parents to take on facilitator
roles in meetings. They can also acknowledge mothers who are “movers and
shakers” in the community and capitalize on their knowledge to recruit
other parents to become involved in school affairs.
As I reflect on my work with immigrant Latina families, I realize that it has
transformed my teaching and my students' learning. My advice to educators is:
Don't be afraid. Just go out there and jump in! In time, parents will come to
know you and cherish you for your efforts to include and accommodate them and
honor them as individuals. Armed with information, tools, and know-how, parents
will work harder than anyone to support their children's educational goals.
Written by Nieves Torres, Ed.D., April 2007
Dr. Nieves Torres currently works at the University of New Mexico College
of Education, where she directs the Family Literacy Program and the Plaza Comunitaria-an
initiative that provides elementary and secondary certification to Mexican nationals
and other Spanish-speaking educators.
Throughout her career, Dr. Torres has worked in a variety of educational
arenas that center on bilingual, early childhood, and family issues. She was
the first bilingual teacher in Brownsville, Texas, supervisor and consultant
to the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's (SEDL) National Follow
Through Program, and director of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education
Fund's (MALDEF) Family Leadership Program in Albuquerque.
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