Theory lacking applicability is empty. Multicultural education sounds great. As described in Making Choices it is based on a commitment to pluralism; its guiding purpose is to prepare students to be active participants in a a diverse, democratic society." The breakdown of the theories and ideologies provide a great foundation for multicultural education. But after all is said and done, how do we put all these great theories and ideologies into play? Sleeter and Grant describe an array of areas to implement reccomended practices. I want to bring focus to the importance of Home/Community-School relationships.
We have discussed the importance of a change in curriculum as well as teaching styles and diversity acceptance. Although change is required inside our schools, so is a change in the structures outside of schools that impact a students' life. More importantly to effectively transition to education that is multicultural all spheres of student's life must be on one accord. Epstein refers to this as overlapping spheres of influence. As Sleeter and Grant state it, "parents and community members must be more than mere spectators", when it comes to education of children. Once a school system has made the change to accepting and valuing diversity, it is then made easy for community and parental involvement. Parents and the community are able to see their culture values through the school and this gives them a place to now become active in a child's education. It is important to not just speak on this matter but actively create plans and practices for this partnership to take place. Ideally parents as well as the community have a place in making major decisions concerning schooling. It is important to have more than just your typical parent-teacher conference or teachers who contact parent when a child has misbehaved. Parents deserve involvement every step of the way. In this patnership, cultural empowerment is evident in and outside of the classroom.
This powerpoint gives a definition of what a SFC partnership is as well as breakdown the 6 types of parent involvement identified by Epstein as presented in Sleeter and Grant.
http://j.b5z.net/i/u/2135872/i/School-Family-Community_Partnerships_Powerpoint_1_-1.ppt
This video shows a school that has effectively transitioned to School-Family-Community Partnerships. They give a great example of have this transition can actually be done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=hwNEDXHEUmU&v=8vOjdJAdBCA
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Your highlighting of the parent-teacher conference as an insufficient attempt to flesh out Sleeter/Grant's ideal educative coalition really makes a strong connection for me in my own education. With that personal connection in mind, this concept was a bit more accessible for me. The video really does compound an idea of practicing multicultural education for the sake of mutual understanding.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my first thought (naturally :/ ) when watching the video was in response to the Director's words "the study circle's program primarily deals with race and ethnicity, but the strategies can be used for other types of things as well..." was "how does the circle equip communities to deal with the ways discrepencies in lifestyle and the effect on the cohesiveness of a child's education."
Great post here and the video is just as great each time I watch. I wonder, however, if school districts will see this as a program they can truly afford to implement, particularly in metropolitan areas.
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