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Question:
Would you please guide me in how my organization can help a Latino community from a vulnerable community in East Bay, Parents are apathetic in getting involve in they children education. The majority of parents don't participate in school meetings, school district board meetings, educational class etc.
How we can turn around the parents indifferent behavior to increase parents participation?
Answer:

Hi Miriam,
Welcome to Ask an Advisor and for raising an incredibly relevant issue; we really appreciate your question and hope that we can provide you with useful and directly applicable advice that will inform your most important community work. As you so well know Miriam, this is an issue that transcends education and speaks to how we engage with and motivate people towards actions that directly impact their lives; in our times this is especially salient. As you pointed out, it appears that parents in the East Bay Latino community are indifferent to their children's educational endeavors as evinced by lack of participation in school meetings, school board meetings and the like. Okay, let's think about this from a number of different perspectives: 1) our perceptions of other people's behaviors and our own cultural competencies, and 2) how we might transform our initial perceptions into useful and productive actions. To the first point, let me say that things are not always what they appear to be, especially within low-income, vulnerable communities. What may appear to us as apathy or indifference usually is neither, rather this condition is likely a function of, among other things, logistics (i.e., the time of day and where meetings are held), transportation issues (i.e., having to take public transportation and make multiple transfers); child care issues; having to work more than one job to provide for one's family needs; being a single parent and not being able to get time off; language (this is huge) and cultural barriers (perceived or real); parents' own experience with the educational system; and fear (especially if they are undocumented). So, as you begin to think about what type of intervention might work with this community, these are considerations that, well, must be considered or else any intervention so conceived is doomed to fail. As much as we'd like to think that parents should want to readily engage with the educational system for the sake of their children, there are just some factors that preclude the feasibility of such engagement. Hence we need to figure out ways of addressing those factors head-on if our intervention is to succeed. Likewise, we must put aside any cultural stereotypes we might harbor and look at the realities of life in this community (and other similar communities) from the perspective of those who live there. I'm not saying that you don't already do this, it's more a reminder to self (me) and others who might read this to consider more than just what appears before our eyes, yes? Okay, all that said, and please don't take it as criticism as I offer my perspective along the lines of "things to think about", let's discuss the second point of turning our initial perceptions into useful and productive actions on behalf of the community. So, I think what needs to be done first is an assessment of the community to find out its needs around the issue of education and to determine the factors that preclude parental involvement. I will tell you up front that if you want to engage parents in the education of their children you'll have to address other needs as well; sorry to say there are more pressing needs than education in low-income and vulnerable communities - I'm sure you already know this. Conducting a needs assessment as a first step will tell you a lot about the community and inform your future actions (you can even use existing data collected by other organizations in your community if a needs assessment is not feasible). You might also seriously think about fostering relationships and partnering with other organizations that work in the community, especially if they know the key stakeholders and gatekeepers, and they have experience working with Latino families in particular. I am not telling you anything new as you know that leveraging resources is crucial in community work so that the strengths of many organizations are brought to bear on whatever problems need to be addressed rather than one organization shouldering the full work-load. So, beyond a needs assessment and partnering with other organizations (including foundations, the United Way, other service organizations, etc.) you might also consider a social marketing campaign targeted directly at Latino parents (En Espanol y Ingles por favor) including free community events with food, games, raffles, etc. (you see these frequently in the public health domain) to engage parents; this would actually be down the road a ways after you know what type of social marketing might work through your needs assessment and partnerships. This is a lot to digest Miriam so let me now point you to some resources in the Community Tool Box you might find useful and will hopefully provide greater clarity and detail than I'm able to provide in a short missive. When you're on our Community Tool Box home page you'll notice the "Help Taking Action - Troubleshooting for your Work" button at the top of the page, second from the left. Click it on and then click on the "Troubleshooting Guide." I think that #1 (We need to understand the community or situation better), #3 (We don't know what to do to solve the problem), and #5 (There is not enough community participation) are key for you. Within "Help Taking Action" you might also click on "Best Change Processes" and take a close look at #4 (Arranging for community mobilizers), #8 (Implementing effective interventions), and #11 (Making outcomes matter). Also on our home page you'll notice the Learn a Skill (how-to information) button in the top left corner. Click it on and then click on table of contents. There are six sections and their associated chapters and toolkits that might be helpful; they are listed here:
Community Assessment: Information about how to assess community needs and resources, get issues on the public agenda, and choose relevant strategies (Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and Resources and toolkit 2. Assessing Community Needs and Resources).
Communications to Promote Interest and Participation: Communications that promote interest and encourage involvement (Chapter 6. Communications to Promote Interest and Chapter 7. Encouraging Involvement in Community Work, and toolkits 1. Creating and Maintaining Partnerships and 8. Increasing Participation and Membership).
Analyzing Community Problems and Designing and Adapting Community Interventions: Information about analyzing community problems to design, choose, and adapt interventions for different cultures and communities (Chapter 17. Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions, Chapter 18. Deciding Where to Start, and Chapter 19. Choosing and Adapting Community Interventions, and toolkits 3. Analyzing Problems and Goals and 7. Developing an Intervention).
Implementing Promising Community Interventions: Information on illustrative interventions using various strategies for change (Chapter 21. Enhancing Support, Incentives, and Resources and Chapter 23. Modifying Access, Barriers, and Opportunities, and toolkit 7. Developing an Intervention).
Cultural Competence and Spirituality in Community Building: Information on understanding culture and diversity, how to strengthen multicultural collaboration, and spirituality and community building (Chapter 27. Cultural Competence in a Multicultural World and toolkit 9. Enhancing Cultural Competence).
Social Marketing and Sustainability of the Initiative: Information on conducting a social marketing effort (promoting awareness, interest, and behavior change), and planning for long-term sustainability (Chapter 45. Social Marketing of Successful Components of the Initiative and toolkit 13. Implementing a Social Marketing Effort).
Well Miriam, I think that just about does it. To reiterate, conducting a community needs assessment, fostering partnerships, and conducting social marketing are the three key activities that should help you address the issue you raised. Hope I didn't overwhelm you with information, but this is about so much more than just engaging parents, so much more. Again, we really appreciate you visiting Ask an Advisor and for your question. We hope that you are able to extract something of use from our reply, if not, please let us know and we'll work with you until we have the solution you seek, that's why we're here; remember, you're not alone! Best to you.
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Question Date: خميس, 04/14/2016