Educational Barriers Immigrant Families Face

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This barrier can disappear if the parents learn how the school system works. Every time a new student is enrolled in a school, parents should be given flyers both in their language and English so they have a better understanding how the school will help the child and the family. The parents will be aware of the help the school and state provides and later when they have problem, they will know who to ask help to. As long as the trust barrier is gone then slowly the other barriers will disappear.

Lastly, the third barrier is the participation barrier. In the “Barriers to School Involvement: Are Immigrants Parents Disadvantaged?” article states, “Parents’ participation is a huge part in a child’s education. Immigrant parents are less likely to be involved in school programs, reasons being work or misunderstanding” (Kristin Turneya and Grace Kaoa). Immigrants sometimes have two jobs and are never around. In most cases, the oldest sibling is in charge of the younger ones. Sometimes a child only has one parent in the household. One parent is in a different country half a year then comes back and the other parent leaves. Work is the main reason why parents are not able to participate in school activities. If the family were more stable then the parents would get involved. Parents aren’t participating in the child’s life either, they are not aware how they are doing in school. The child could have a learning disability and they would not know how to help their child. The student could also need extra help and tutoring but the parent is not around enough to notice. This barrier hurts the child the most. If the parent gets involved in school then the child and parent can develop a better relationship since the parent will know how the child is struggling with. Another reason why parents do not get involved in school is because the family is not staying in that place for long. Immigrant families usually move around a lot since the parents are just looking for jobs. Hawkins said, “Moving is a barrier to a child’s education because they don’t stay in a school to long and do not have the opportunity to learn all the material in their classes.” Some parents know they are not going to stay long so they try not get settled down completely. They also teach the children not to get too comfortable at a school. This hurts the child in the long run because they start not caring about school.

Language, trust, and participation barriers are the main educational barriers immigrant families face. With the language barrier there is no communication between the parents and school system since they are not able to speak to each other. The only person between the two is the student and sometimes the student it not very honest. Most questions parents and teachers have remain unanswered most of the time. “Some parents said that the translators made it easier for them to participate. “I understand English and write it, but I’m uncomfortable speaking in public,” said Rosa Lopez, from Colombia, the mother of two McMahon students” (Margaret Steele). This is another way to disappear the language barrier. Along with the language barrier, trust issues develop since the school and parents do not know each other. It is difficult to trust anyone in a new country since the cultures are completely different. Parents also have a misunderstanding of the school system, they do not know how school run. I think the biggest problem with the trust barrier is that parents are not informed enough, they just come from a different country someone like a teacher should sit down with them and inform them how the school works. The participation barrier would disappear as well if the parents were informed more. It is hard for parents to make time for school activities since they have to work a lot. They should still take 30 minutes out of their busy schedule to pay attention to their child or go see them at school. The parents have to make an effort to try as well. Solutions to these barriers exist or one can make the change to help eliminate them. Every family goes through struggles but immigrant families’ biggest barriers are educational barriers.

Citations

Beck, Evelyn. "Overcome the Language Barrier - PTO Today." PTO Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/261-overcome-the-language-barrier

Fernandes, Deepa. "Preschool Not an Easy Sell for Some New Immigrants." Southern California Public Radio. N.p., 29 Aug. 2014. Web. 11 Oct. 2015

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/08/29/17222/for-some-immigrant-parents-keeping-kids-home-bette/

Hawkins, William. “Education & School Barriers for Immigrant Families.” Interview. 11 Oct. 2015

Steele, Margaret F. "Breaking Down Barriers to Get Parents Involved." The New York Times. N.p., 22 June 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/22immigct.html?_r=0

Turneya, Kristin, and Grace Kaoa. "Barriers to School Involvement: Are Immigrant Parents Disadvantaged?" Taylor & Francis. N.p., 07 Aug. 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2015

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/JOER.102.4.257-271

Turneya, Kristin, and Grace Kaoa. "Barriers to School Involvement: Are Immigrant Parents Disadvantaged?" Taylor & Francis. N.p., 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2015

http://www.russellsage.org/research/reports/barriers-to-school-involvement