Cultivating Home

and School
Partnership
Katie Todd
ESL-433N
September 3, 2017
Overview
 What are some cultural factors that might affect ELL students and native
English students?
 What are some significant issues regarding the instructions and the classroom
environment for all students?
 How can home and school facilitate learning?
 What could be done to create and enhance home and school partnership?
 Cultural Factors
There are many things that can affect a student’s education. Culture factors
are a huge concern with a multi-cultural class.
 Every culture views educations in
their own way. Depending on the
culture education may not play an
important role.
 Moving to a difference culture can
create a culture shock for a student.
 The family’s beliefs can impact a
child’s education.
Cultural Factors (cont.)
 A culture has certain values that can
impact a child’s education.
 The relationship between student
and teacher and also parent-teacher
relationship can be effected by
culture resulting to an impact on the
child’s education
 A child’s social background play a
factor on learning English.
Instruction and Classroom
environment for all students
There can be significant issues that need to be
considered when creating instruction or the classroom
environment:
• Welcoming and safe environment
• Reduce cultural shock
• Language barrier
Welcoming and Safe Environment
 “It is important to foster a learning
environment in which students feel
safe, relaxed, and willing to take
risks” (Creating a Safe and Supportive Learning
Environment, n.d.).

 A teacher can create a welcoming

and safe environment by doing the
following:
 Making the stduent feel part of the
class
 Use positive non-verbal
communication
 Build self-esteem
Cultural Shock
 Cultural Shock is a real thing. There  It is important for a teacher to notice
are 5 different stages of cultural the signs of cultural shock and take
shock a student can go through; action
 Honeymoon
 During certain stages a stduent can
 Hostility become depressed an detached
 Crisis and this can be concerning
 Humor  Encourage the native language,
 Adjustment share different cultures or plan
activities about cultures are all
things a teacher can do to help
Language Barrier
The difference in language effects everyone and everything involved in
education
 This situation should be addressed
in the instruction and the classroom
environment
 The teacher can label items in the
classroom in English to help English
vocabulary
 The teacher should differentiate
instruction to suit the child’s needs
(extra time, dictionary, one on one,
small group, etc.)
Home and School Partnership
 A partnership between home and
school can facilitate learning,
 When the adults work together there
is a better support team for the child
 Teachers are able to understand the
student outside of the classroom
because of communication with the
parents
 Parents can reinforce at home what
the child learned in class
Build Home and School Partnership
 How a teacher can build the home
and school partnership;
 Find a way to communicate with the
ELL parents
 Include parent student activities in
the homework
 Make a personal connection with the
families
 Ask for volunteers in the classroom
(All About Adolescent Literacy, n.d.).
References
All About Adolescent Literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved September 01, 2017, from
http://www.adlit.org/article/42781/
Creating a Safe and Supportive Learning Environment - Literacy Online. (n.d.).
Retrieved September 01, 2017, from
https://sites.google.com/site/literacyonline/support/creating-a-safe-and-
supportive-learning-environment
How to Help Students Survive Culture Shock. (2012, February 23). Retrieved
September 01, 2017, from http://blog.languagelizard.com/2012/02/23/how-to-
help-students-survive-culture-shock/
The Home-School Team: An Emphasis on Parent Involvement. (n.d.). Retrieved
September 01, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/home-school-team