Question: With ELL parents, what is the most effective way to support them with their transition into Canada?
From personal experience, I know how important it is to keep in constant communication with parents. At the last school I worked at, I sent home a newsletter every single Friday in order to show to parents that I was willing to open up my classroom to them. I was to provide a clear understanding of what I was doing during the week and what students were learning at the time.
Basically, the takeaway from that was that… parents are really interested in how their children are doing. This does not only apply to ELL students, but to parents in general. With ELL parents, it is even more vital to support the family into a smooth transition into the school (Kim, 2011). Naturally, when first meeting them, you are to have a face-to-face interview/talk. It’s the best form of communication out there, as it will promote positive home support for the future (Panferov, 2010). Not only have I tried this myself, but I’ve seen parents look and sound a lot more relieved once meeting in person to discuss how their child is doing. As well, not only will meeting in person support the parents, but it will provide you (as a teacher) and opportunity to teach them how to properly use online material (if they are having trouble). This is particularly helpful towards ESL parents who also struggle with English.
By using online translations for the web, this will help the parents with reading what their child is doing online. Giving parents resources for translating the English text to their native language will help them support their children when their child is struggling with an assignment. Of course, if that doesn’t work, it’s important to offer them the opportunity to meet in person to go over their concerns (Panferov, 2010). Especially now that we have Google Classrooms and such, it’s important to know that students and parents know what we are learning online. Naturally, if you don’t hear from the student after a while, it’s important to follow up with a phone call to the parents to make sure that they are understanding everything properly.
Something that I also discovered in Hong Kong is the fact that ESL parents are very into literacy. Meaning, that reading is one of their favorite things to do. Something to help the parents and to help the students bond (as sometimes the student will end up succeeding the parent in the English language) is to find duo-language books for students to practice reading (Kim, 2011). It is also a way to promote family time, as many parents are often very busy with work. Another opportunity for parents to communicate with the teacher and the classroom is to come in to do volunteer work, as they can engage in sharing their home culture with the class (Panferov, 2010).
I do hope some of these tips/tricks will help support you in your future classroom.
References
Panferov, S. (2010). Increasing ELL Parental Involvement in Our Schools: Learning From the Parents. Theory Into Practice, 49(2), 106–112. https://doi-org.ezproxy.niagara.edu/10.1080/00405841003626551
Kim, H. Y. (2011). Parents’ Perceptions, Decisions, and Influences: Korean Immigrant Parents Look at Language Learning and Their Children’s Identities. Multicultural Education, 18(2), 16–19.
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