I seem to have issues getting my act together to post lately and I blame it entirely on not wanting to do anything but veg out once I get home from work in the evenings. I feel the need to exercise and work on my paper and blogging seems to always fall to the wayside. I feel rested after a nice trip to Cali to see my in-laws for Thanksgiving, so I am back and ready to blog.
Speaking of my paper, some big changes have been going on (both good and bad).
I have been working on my "specialty paper" as the second major milestone in my doctoral program but about 40 pages in, a committee at PSU decided that the specialty paper will no longer be a requirement for doctoral candidates. It's not as if my work has been in vain because the specialty paper functions as the first 2 chapters in the dissertation proposal, so that made me feel a bit better. Rather than having to complete the first two chapters and then present and defend that work before moving onto the next part, I can roll the work over and basically I am now working on my dissertation proposal, which adds a third chapter, the methodology section.
When I started the paper, I was focusing on how the type of reading instruction that is taking place as an outcome of No Child Left Behind (very scripted, using core reading programs etc.) puts culturally and linguistically diverse students as a disadvantage because the content included in the scripted lessons does not necessarily reflect and/or relate to their background knowledge as much as it does with White students. I was arguing the point that a scripted program is an excellent foundation, but that teachers need to have some flexibility to modify or enhance the scripted lessons in order to make reading instruction more culturally relevant. I know that teacher flexibility and expectations for fidelity vary from school to school, district to district, and state to state, but in my district, we are expected to stick to the script.
Now that I am at the stage of actually designing my own research which requires me to come up with my own research question, I am starting to go in another direction. Here is a brief overview of my thinking:
- teachers need to have the flexibility to enhance scripted curricula using culturally responsive instructional strategies
- culturally responsive teaching strategies involve incorporating student voice, texts that reflect students' cultures, and students' funds of knowledge
- teachers' need to be familiar with students' funds of knowledge in order to appropriately modify curricula
- how can teachers familiarize themselves with students funds of knowledge? Research shows that home visits are an extremely effective way for teachers to gain a better understanding of culturally and linguistically diverse students and their families by getting to know the knowledge and strengths that are present in their households
What do teachers think about home visits. In most cases, home visits are not a standard practice in public schools (at least where I work), so why is this the case? Are teachers opposed? Would teachers be willing to conduct home visits?
So, as I think about creating my own study, I am interested in your thoughts.
Are home visits required where you teach?
Have you ever done a home visit?
Would you be willing to do home visits?
Would it depend on whether or not you were paid/given time during the workday/how many homes you had to visit?
Although I am still really interested in the idea of changing practices to better incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices, I feel like investigating funds of knowledge and how teachers go about making the effort to better understand families is a better starting point for my work. I get really caught up in my own thinking though, so I would love some feedback from different educators to make sure I am not leaving out anything major.
4 comments:
We generally do not do home visits. Some teachers choose to but most do not. The exception is preschool. Our state-funded preschool programs have a grant and as part of that grant, the teachers are with students Monday-Thursday and on Fridays they have meetings and do home visits. I believe they are required to meet every child at home at least twice during the year.
I have done a few home visits in my time (usually with a principal) but it is not something I would make a big practice out of doing. Maybe because it's not typical, but it makes me uncomfortable to be on their "turf", mostly because I think of school as a more neutral ground -- it's not "my" space or "their" space, it is OUR space and thus less intimidating.
I definitely think it's important to know whatever you can about families. I would actually like to do home visits, whether or not I'd get paid for it (I mean sure I'd rather get paid haha, but clearly I did not become a teacher for the money!). I don't think it would be supported at my school though... there is kind of an attitude that you don't cross the teacher/student line and every time I've done that for any reason I usually keep it pretty quiet (by that I mean I once had some former students over in a unique situation and I've gone to some kids shows, soccer games etc). Overall I feel like there is an attitude not to talk about this thing because it makes the teachers who don't do anything look bad... which I think is stupid as they SHOULD look bad haha, but anyway... I just don't think it would be well received.
However, I do think it should be done. I have tutored some of my former students in their home after and I thought it was very enlightening to learn about their life at home, mostly all good things but still useful to know :) Interested to hear what more you learn about this subject!
As a Pre-K teacher, with a Head Start program in my building - I personally do not have to do home visits... but it is a requirement for Head Start Programs for the teacher to complete 2 home visits per school year. In my building, we have 350 students - with a 95% free or reduce price lunch population. I see the positive side of home visits - getting to know about the environment that our children live in. However, the problem that our Head Start teachers find is that many parents are very cautious in allowing them into their homes. Many times these parents think that we are going to report them to CPS, or to other agencies. Although we try to meet with all the parents, we work with them - including inviting them into the classroom to complete the home visit. We are not paid extra or given time to complete these home visits. Therefore we go either after school, or on the weekend. Nor, are we given time during the school day to complete the home visits. Another thing, that we have to take into account, is that many times it is not safe for us to go into the neighborhoods that our children live in. Therefore, many times teachers find another teacher to go with them. One of the main reasons why we do home visits is to build the connection between the teacher and the parents. We have a low percentage of parents who are actively involved in the school and their child's education.
I hope that this helps. If you have any other questions, you can contact me
I work in a special education classroom in a public school, which is a completely different kind of experience. We have a new teacher working in our classroom this year- she walked in to a room with 3 non-verbal, very low functioning students and had NO IDEA what she was doing with them.
She did complete home visits, but not until about ... three weeks ago.
I feel that when working with students with needs like my students have, it's almost mandatory to do home visits, or at least speak with the parents early in the year to really gain an understanding of the students and their abilities.
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