Abstract:
Family-school partnerships are pivotal in children’s education, especially in early years of school. Despite substantial representation in Western Australian (WA) schools, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families' perspectives on school connections and how schools form partnerships and connect with them remain understudied. The critical relationship between families and schools has been stipulated in multiple Australian frameworks including the Australian Curriculum, the Early Years Learning Framework, and the National Quality Standard.
Employing a phenomenological frame and case study methods across three schools with high enrolment of CALD children in metropolitan Perth, this research explores how schools create partnerships and connections that engage CALD families in their child’s learning. For each case, interviews, focus groups, observations, environmental scanning, and information audits were used to gather data. In total, 61 parents and 32 staff and leaders participated in the research study. Furthermore, observations took place in eight early years classes and nine parent events held at schools.
Key findings revealed schools’ fragmented approaches to building and sustaining connection with CALD families. Strategies used to engage CALD families in their child’s learning revealed teachers’ inadequacy in culturally responsive practice, lack of understanding of how to bring parental perspectives of school into the frame, and the non-existence of culturally safe spaces in all three schools. These insights underscore the need for informed policies and practices and transformation of the current school-CALD partnerships through a culturally responsive school model.
Recommendations in the model include; equipping staff with the tools, time and training to foster culturally responsive educational environments for CALD children and their families; learning about culturally responsive leadership and strategic planning by the schools; committing to a mindset shift in all staff that CALD families are asset-laden; empowering CALD families and their children in culturally safe spaces; and providing feedback channels for all stakeholders to raise any concerns or ideas to the school regarding their connection with CALD families. Future research is required to test the developed Culturally Responsive Schools’ framework and develop policy infrastructure that requires schools to pay attention to culturally responsive strategies that assist and empower CALD families in their child’s education.
(350 words)
Employing a phenomenological frame and case study methods across three schools with high enrolment of CALD children in metropolitan Perth, this research explores how schools create partnerships and connections that engage CALD families in their child’s learning. For each case, interviews, focus groups, observations, environmental scanning, and information audits were used to gather data. In total, 61 parents and 32 staff and leaders participated in the research study. Furthermore, observations took place in eight early years classes and nine parent events held at schools.
Key findings revealed schools’ fragmented approaches to building and sustaining connection with CALD families. Strategies used to engage CALD families in their child’s learning revealed teachers’ inadequacy in culturally responsive practice, lack of understanding of how to bring parental perspectives of school into the frame, and the non-existence of culturally safe spaces in all three schools. These insights underscore the need for informed policies and practices and transformation of the current school-CALD partnerships through a culturally responsive school model.
Recommendations in the model include; equipping staff with the tools, time and training to foster culturally responsive educational environments for CALD children and their families; learning about culturally responsive leadership and strategic planning by the schools; committing to a mindset shift in all staff that CALD families are asset-laden; empowering CALD families and their children in culturally safe spaces; and providing feedback channels for all stakeholders to raise any concerns or ideas to the school regarding their connection with CALD families. Future research is required to test the developed Culturally Responsive Schools’ framework and develop policy infrastructure that requires schools to pay attention to culturally responsive strategies that assist and empower CALD families in their child’s education.
(350 words)