Family Values: An Immigrant Teacher’s Story In the Educational Leadership article entitled Family Values: An Immigrant Teacher’s Story by Abigail Akosua Kayser the author states that, “From childhood, my parents along with extended family and neighbors in Ghana, had shared dreams of wanting their children to live better lives than they had. Education was the key to attaining this goal, and America was a place where it could happen.” At age sixteen, Abigail immigrated to the United States from Ghana, a country in the Western region of Africa. Her father had already been in America for ten years, working to gain enough money to bring the rest of his family with him. As a person who received a majority of her education in a third world country,
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Based on her past experiences, she developed recommendations for working with families of diverse backgrounds. These recommendations include critically reflecting on identities as educators and as question, find multiple ways to communicate with families, and us “funds of knowledge” to inform instruction. Teachers must continue to learn about different cultures and reflect on how their styles are influenced by their own cultural biases. There are many forms of communication available due to technological advances in society. In some cases, students can act as a messenger for parents and teachers by being assigned homework that requires further insight on the family’s culture. An interest in a culture can allow parents to feel valued, thus promoting a relationship with teachers. These recommendations help to minimize the likelihood of an experience such as Kayser’s to happen again. In conclusion, I found the article to be very insightful on how cultural differences may affect a student’s learning. I can personally relate to this article, as I am a child of immigrants from developing countries. It is important for teachers to remember that not every child is raised in an “americanized” home. Customs of one country might not be valued in another. Students and teachers must be aware of cultural differences in order to be sensitive to the situations of
Based on her past experiences, she developed recommendations for working with families of diverse backgrounds. These recommendations include critically reflecting on identities as educators and as question, find multiple ways to communicate with families, and us “funds of knowledge” to inform instruction. Teachers must continue to learn about different cultures and reflect on how their styles are influenced by their own cultural biases. There are many forms of communication available due to technological advances in society. In some cases, students can act as a messenger for parents and teachers by being assigned homework that requires further insight on the family’s culture. An interest in a culture can allow parents to feel valued, thus promoting a relationship with teachers. These recommendations help to minimize the likelihood of an experience such as Kayser’s to happen again. In conclusion, I found the article to be very insightful on how cultural differences may affect a student’s learning. I can personally relate to this article, as I am a child of immigrants from developing countries. It is important for teachers to remember that not every child is raised in an “americanized” home. Customs of one country might not be valued in another. Students and teachers must be aware of cultural differences in order to be sensitive to the situations of