Untapped Potential: Building Stronger School Partnerships With Immigrant Parents

• In Event: 34.075 - Engagement With Immigrant, ELL, and Refugee Families

Abstract

Immigrant parents are an untapped resource for school personnel to guide children’s educational experiences in culturally responsive ways (Isik-Ercan, 2018). This qualitative study focused on making visible parent’s funds of knowledge to understand the diverse ways in which immigrant families perceive their roles and responsibilities in the education of their young children. Participants included 14 highly educated immigrant parents from a variety of countries whose children attend a university laboratory school in the Midwestern US. Data were gathered through surveys and semi-structured interviews. Findings illustrate that this particular group of parents provide cultural guidance, academic enrichment, and reinforcement of classroom content, which they believe supports the teacher and leads to the success of their children in school.

Authors

• Monica Miller Marsh, Kent State University - Kent

• Lolagul Raimbekova, Kent State University