Sharing "Life Stories": Immigrant Parents and Teachers in Conversation

• In Event: Roundtable Session 53
  In Roundtable Session: Situating Teachers: The Impact of Diverse and Changing Teaching Contexts on Teacher Practice

Abstract

In recent years, school districts in Midwestern communities have been transformed by the arrival of immigrant families to small, rural communities that were often unprepared to fully meet the needs of immigrant children and families (Fox, et al., in press; Maharidge, 2005; Saenz, 2011). We share results of a pilot project engaging elementary teachers and immigrant parents in small group discussions where stories serve as the basis for the parent-teacher interactions (Carter, 1993; Scholes, 1981). The research team documented the ways that differences in culture and language shape communication practices of immigrant parents and teachers in order to understand the larger socio-cultural l dimensions of power and access (Janks, 2010).

Authors

• Carolyn A. Colvin, University of Iowa

• Elizabeth Willmore, University of Iowa

• Daisy Patino, The University of Iowa