Working with Asian parents and families

Multicultural Education, Fall 2001 by Lee, Guang-Lea, Manning, M Lee

Promising Practices

Our schools' increasing numbers of students from Asian cultural backgrounds suggest educators will be called upon more and more to work with Asian parents and families. Whether through parent conferences, involvement activities, or parent education programs, educators who provide Asian parents and families with equitable educational services must have knowledge of Asian cultures and their tremendous diversity, have positive and accepting attitudes toward Asian people, and have the skills to conduct successful conferences as well as to involve and educate Asian parents and families. These challenges grow more complicated when educators consider the farranging diversity of Asian parents and families. This article suggests ways educators can work effectively with Asian American parents and families.

Asians and Pacific Islanders are the fastest-growing minority group inthe United States today (Yao, 1988; Sileo, 1996). Recent census information reported 10,507,000 Asians in the United States in 1998 and predicted Asian population numbers will increase to 15,265,000 in 2010 and to 34,352,000 in 2050 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1999). Also, 3,662,000 Asians in the U.S. are between the ages of 18 and 34 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1999), normally considered child-bearing ages, which means that increasing numbers of Asian children and parents will continue to challenge educators. Last, the recent economic crises in Asia will also contribute to increased numbers of Asians moving to the United States. Since Asians reside in both metropolitan and rural areas, nearly all educators will have opportunities to teach these children and adolescents.

Understanding Asian American Parents and Families

Prototypic Asian American parents and families do not exist. Just as all parents and families differ, Asian American parents differ by educational backgrounds, linguistic ability, socioeconomic status, acculturation, and demographic region, just to name representative examples. Educators need to be wary when referring to"Asian American" parents and families. Working with parents also requires educators to examine myths, stereotypes, and prejudices that they might harbor about parents from Asian cultural backgrounds.

Educators cannot objectively reach decisions concerning whether, and to what extent, to work with parents when they believe such statements as, "These parents are all alike," "The father dominates the family," "The father never lets his wife speak," and "Both the mother and father are model parents, just as their children are model students." Educators with these stereotypical beliefs will probably do little to get to know and involve parents in their individual classrooms or the overall school program. Also, teachers can not assume parents of Asian backgrounds share similar mindsets about teaching and learning as do majority culture (or other culture) parents.

Suggestions for Working with Asian American Parents and Families

Several suggestions can be offered for working with Asian parents and families. Still, perceptive educators will always remember the tremendous diversity among Asian parents and families, just as with parents and families from all cultural backgrounds.

Also, just as Asian students have been stereotyped as successful and well-behaved overachievers, Asian parents and families have been stereotyped as having certain characteristics and needs, so educators need to avoid stereotypes and cultural generalizations. While suggestions can be helpful, some aspects of Asian family life can only be learned by getting to know individual Asian parents and families.

Respect both immediate and extended family members. Traditionally, educators in the United States have worked with immediate parents rather than extended family members. In fact, some educators perhaps feel intimidated when several extended family members join the immediate parents at school functions. Also, some educators feel extended family members attending parent-teacher conferences might violate the confidentiality between parents and teachers. The increasing number of Asian students causes educators to reconsider the mindset of working only with immediate parents.

Many Asian cultures respect the extended family concept and offer similar allegiance and respect to extended family members, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Rather than educators conferring with or involving only the mother and father, educators should make conscientious attempts to change their mindsets of parents to include extended family members.

Provide opportunities to share differences between the U.S. and Asian school system. Realistically speaking, Asian parents and families might not understand the U.S. school system and individual school expectations for achievement and behavior. Plus, some parents might expect their children and adolescents to demonstrate high achievement in all academic areas (Yao, 1988). These parents might not understand the importance of extracurricular activities and special programs. Other parents may experience difficulties communicating with educators and, consequently, feel uncomfortable conversing with them and participating in school-sponsored events.