Strengthening School Leadership to Support Ethno-Culturally Diverse Immigrant Students: Insights From Barriers to Parental Engagement

• In Event: From Barriers to Innovation: Computational Thinking, Deep Learning, and Student Voice Within Innovative Contexts

Abstract

The presentation is based on a study whose purpose was to examine the experience of ethnoculturally diverse immigrant parents with school leadership and provide insight for preparing principals for work with ethnocultural diversity. Phenomenological interviews, carried out with 24 ethnically diverse new immigrant parents, followed by focus group discussions, and consultative panels were used to generate experiences with school leadership. The highlights were examined for themes that described the essence of experience. Findings revealed the need for school leaders to have knowledge, skill, and dispositions for acknowledging and responding appropriately to; dissonance associated with educational and ethno-cultural difference; communicate the purpose, structures, and policies clearly; create an inclusive community where newcomers are engaged in decision making.

Author

• Janet Mola Okoko, University of Saskatchewan