Foster Family Engagement in Urban Communities

In basic terms, an urban community is a densely populated and economically diverse area. Their beauty is that they are often composed of many cultures, identities and languages. Unfortunately, urban community members may also experience higher rates of community violence, racial trauma and a lack of access to basic necessities and/or resources. How can school counselors lead the charge in creating welcoming and inclusive urban school environments?
 
Family engagement aims to foster rich and successful educational experiences for all students and empower families to participate in their child’s educational journey. Its purpose is to build a school community that provides a two-way communication linked to learning. The school regularly communicates with families about its expectations of them and the importance of the curriculum of the home. Schools thrive when the home supports the school. Therefore, the home-to-school connection is essential to school improvement.
 
Family involvement and full engagement set the tone for the expectation of academic success and unity. Families can model the importance of punctuality; school task priority; and limited time spent on computer games, television and the internet. Prioritization of tasks, duties and responsibilities are important skills for children to learn at an early age.
 
The process of engaging families in urban communities isn’t uniform or even easy, with myriad challenges. How do we address these types of challenges in the school community?
 

Language

A way to address language barriers and to effectively communicate with families is to include interpreters whenever meeting and/or contacting families. Research the various language resources within your district to see if interpreters are available to assist families and translate documents into the languages of your school’s families. If your district lacks those resources, try to build connections and collaborate with community agencies that may be able to provide confidential and effective translation services.
 

Cultural Background

Find opportunities to connect with families in creative ways to learn more about them and gain perspectives on their family and cultural background. Consider a holiday celebration showcasing diversity, a cultural festival, dinner dialogues, or family literacy and math nights with interactive games. These creative opportunities are intentional ways to build connections and engage with families to provide information and grow your understanding of the families in your school and the larger community.
 

Technology and Communication Access 

Consult with the school social worker at your school or district and learn about your district’s resources for communicating with families. Emails, phone calls with automated messages and text are options, but there are also platforms providing various means of communicating with teachers, staff, administrators and directly with families. Some platforms also provide language translations. Many of these platforms are available through an app, which can be accessed on any device.
 

Time and Resource Constraints 

Back-to-school nights are great opportunities to poll families about their communication preferences and good days/times to communicate that don’t conflict with their work schedules. These events also allow for providing information and resources, such as the local fire and police departments and other helpful community resources, especially for families new to the community.
 
Poll families to gather information about their needs and discover what they’re lacking in terms of access, resources and time. This will give you a clearer view into issues facing families in your school building and larger community. The needs may include medical treatment, clothing, academic support and other resources. When you know families’ needs, you can adequately address them or refer them to support programs in the school, district, community and state.
 
Check into local, state and district resources for family access to technology. Programs may be available that provide options to borrow technology devices, hotspots for the internet, etc. Also, have families check with phone and internet service providers to see if special programs are available to students and families.
 

Transportation 

Where available, apply for grants and use the funds to purchase gift cards and bus transportation vouchers, allowing for greater accessibility to reliable and affordable transportation and an ability to attend and engage in school events.
 

School Policies and Climate

Consult, partner and collaborate with school administrators to review school policies, procedures and programs to identify and address any barriers that may affect family engagement. Use your voice to advocate and provide ideas, suggestions and new initiatives for engagement that will accommodate families who are employed, including those juggling multiple jobs or working nontypical hours. One way to support families with irregular work schedules is to hold an event twice, at different times. Seek the input of families and administrators regarding feasibility of an interest in an event on a Saturday. Again, whenever possible, secure an interpreter or two for your school events and initiatives involving families as a means to encourage engagement.
 
Consider forming a family engagement committee, which can consist of teacher representatives from each grade level, school counselor, school social worker and parents/guardians from the community. This committee can plan events and activities for the school and community and further enhance the school climate. Create a fundraiser or crowdsource and use the funds to address family engagement initiatives in your school building.
 
With or without a committee, collaborate with teachers, staff, administrators and others to create comfortable and inviting spaces that allow families to engage. Implement staff/faculty training sessions highlighting the importance of being aware of and understanding various cultures and personal biases. This training is essential, because many families have different home cultures. In-service training for teachers can foster learning regarding a collectivistic versus individualistic family culture, and avoiding assumptions that students and their families have the same beliefs, values, customs and behaviors as staff – or as each other. A lack of cultural sensitivity and awareness can have a negative impact on the school climate and whether families perceive and view the school as welcoming and inviting.
 

Trust 

Many families in urban communities may have fears and experience a lack of trust when working with schools. They may not want to communicate their struggles due to fear regarding illegal status. They may feel they don’t have the formal education to adequately help their children, and they may not understand the nuances around partnerships with the school. Being intentional about including and welcoming families is key. Going back to the example of implementing a creative event such as a monthly dinner dialogue where food, activities, childcare, information and resources are provided to families can assist with building rapport and trusting relationships with families in urban communities.
 
Sejal Parikh Foxx, Ph.D., sbparikh@charlotte.edu , is a professor and chair in the Department of Counseling at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. She is the founder and director of the Urban School Counseling Collaborative and a former elementary and high school counselor. Sheree Harper, sharpe15@charlotte.edu , is a doctoral candidate at UNC –Charlotte and a former elementary school counselor. Glorisha Jones, glorisha1.jones@cms.k12.nc.us , is the Section 504 counselor/coordinator in Charlotte Mecklenburg (N.C.) Schools and a former elementary school counselor.