“Extensive international research supports the potential of parental involvement for improving academic achievements and social outcomes for children of all ages. The most effective schools are now widely considered to be ones that encourage and support the involvement of parents and other family members in the education of their children.”
(Hornby, 2011)
With this evidence in mind, how do teachers meet the challenges of working with multilingual families, with the opportunities and difficulties that presents? What do teachers need to consider?
First, multilingual families are a very diverse group, whose geographical, social, and economic backgrounds vary significantly. Families speak different languages (and different varieties within languages), have different levels and types of education, may have experienced dislocation from their home because of conflict, and will have a range of expectations and understanding about their involvement in their children’s learning, not to mention their rights as a parent regarding their child’s education.
Second, linked to that diversity is an array of barriers to parents engaging with their children’s education. Evans et al (2016) found that staff can make incorrect assumptions about parental interest, and, at times, interpret a lack of achievement by pupils as lack of parental interest.
Rodriguez-Brown (2009) found that certain linguistic minority parents (those speaking a language different from the one spoken by the national majority), while holding great respect for teachers and education, felt anxious because of their own levels of language proficiency or lack of formal education.
Evans et al (2016) also noted that parents of pupils using English as an additional language (EAL), especially those who are new to English and/or are new to the English school system, face a range of specific barriers including a lack of understanding of the English school system and face difficulties supporting their children to complete homework and prepare for tests and exams.
In addition, families may experience the impact of racism and exclusion in the broader community and negative attitudes to inclusion at school.
Despite the barriers they face, almost all families care deeply about their children’s education and their children’s academic achievements.
As a teacher, you will be involved in engaging with your learners’ families as you provide feedback on their child’s progress, advise on subject choices and decisions about sitting national exams, discuss plans for post-16 study and administer careers advice.
The more you know about each family’s background, and the challenges they may face as they build a new life in a new country, the better equipped you will be to involve parents in supporting their children at school.
Nine strategies for engaging with multilingual families
So, how can secondary school teachers feel well prepared to engage with their multilingual families? Here are nine points to get you started:
- Find out what your school’s approach is for working with and supporting multilingual families. You might feel you need training on aspects of this, for example on why multilingual children benefit from continuing to learn their home language. Talk to your EAL or year lead about the information and training you need.
- Establish what information the admissions staff gathered for the pupil profiles, including whether the learner has any prior learning in your subject and what languages they speak, read, and write in. This information may be with your school’s EAL coordinator, if you have one, or with other teachers. If not, find out directly and add the information to the pupil profile yourself.
- Find out if any of the staff at your school speak the preferred language of your students’ family so that where necessary they can interpret in meetings you have with the family.
- Be sensitive to the fact that families experiencing trauma as a result of fleeing their unsafe home may not be in a position to provide support to their children, and that their children may need sensitive attention from you regarding homework completion, for example. These families and their children may also feel uncomfortable sharing any information about their displacement.
- Ensure that in your work supporting multilingual learners to access the curriculum, you set high expectations for their success and communicate those expectations to their parents. If necessary, use translation or the help of a bilingual staff member to communicate this information to parents in an accessible way.
- Think about ways to develop independent reading habits in your students and how you can encourage families to support their children by taking them to the local library, reading literature together in their home language, or sharing dual language books that you send home, for example.
- Establish what barriers some families may face to participation in meetings with teachers, for example working hours or difficulty reaching the school because of distance or lack of transport in rural areas.
- The National Parent Survey (Parentkind, 2023) shows that more than 2.8 million children live in households where their parents are struggling to afford the cost of sending them to school. You may become aware of financial struggles a family is facing. If you do, let your school’s family liaison or pastoral team know.
- Encourage your school to share The Bell Foundation guidance for families – entitled Guidance for parents of students who use EAL – which is available in 22 languages.
Build clear communication
Your main tasks when working with multilingual families as a teacher will be in communicating the expectations, key information, and progress of each child in your subject. Consider the following:
- How will you communicate to make sure communication is simple, clear and in the language the family prefers (it may be English)? Where possible, use visuals to support families who are new to English.
- Make sure there is space for families to engage with you, raise questions and communicate any concerns they may have, and in whatever language they prefer, which you will translate or use a bilingual colleague to translate for you.
- Consider the medium of your communication – not all families will have access to computers, for example.
- Make sure parents know about homework requirements and upcoming tests in your subject.
- Communicate to families about their child’s progress, including their achievements.
Communicate the value of multilingual learning
Consider your own knowledge about the value of bilingualism for learning, your knowledge of how bilingualism works, including how multilingual students use words and phrases from the languages they know as they communicate and construct knowledge in English.
Consider how you provide language support for multilingual students to access the curriculum in your subject.
You might feel that you could benefit from training in these areas so that you can explain to your students’ families about the opportunities their children have for using all the language they know as they learn. If so, approach your senior leadership team about CPD opportunities.
The following strategies will help to make this inclusive pedagogy real for families:
- Communicate in clear, simple ways what the expectations are for homework in your subject and explain to families about opportunities students have to use their preferred language for doing research or preparing a presentation.
- When sharing progress reports with families, include examples of work your students have done where they have used all the language they know, for example to compile a science report or research information for an essay.
Summary
Building relationships with families based on trust and understanding takes time and on-going effort. As subject teachers, you are important ambassadors for your school. Your interactions with your students’ parents will communicate messages about how your school values multilingualism and the contribution that all multilingual students and their families can make to the school community. Being informed and trained on inclusive pedagogies will equip you to include, support and affirm all families.
* This article was originally published in SecEd in July 2024.