Edward M. Olivos: Lessons for Teachers in Bicultural Parental Involvement

In his book, The Power of Parents: A Critical Perspective of Bicultural Parent Involvement in Public Schools (New York: Peter Lang Publishers, 2006), Edward M. Olivos, assistant professor of teacher education focuses on the need for teachers and administrators to have a better understanding of the intentions of bicultural parents and misperceptions about their involvement in their children’s education.

“The challenges that bicultural parents face are both personal as well as institutional,” he notes. “Bicultural parents don't feel comfortable asking questions of educators, which is often interpreted by school personnel to be disinterest, apathy or submissiveness when it is actually a demonstration of respect. Immigrant parents, Latinos and Asians in particular, hold teachers in very high esteem and they tend to instill in their children the concept that they should respect the teacher and do as he or she says.”

According to Olivos, bicultural parents participate in many ways at home and school to support their children and their children's academic endeavors. These efforts may not be recognized as active parental participation due to cultural differences.

“The problem lies in the fact that involvement in U.S. schools is only considered ‘legitimate’ if it meets educator-sanctioned behaviors or roles,” he points out. “Often these roles or behaviors are reflective of mono-cultural, middle-class parents; however, most bicultural parent involvement in schools tends to be viewed in terms of volunteerism, such as cutting paper, making copies and checking homework rather than administrative functions such as sitting on decision-making committees or participating in governance.”

A prolific writer who has published extensively on issues of bilingual learning and biliteracy in education, Olivos imparts to his student teachers different scenarios that illustrate how bicultural parents relate to schools, faculty and staff, in the hopes of raising their awareness of the need for those working in public schools to be sensitive to any special needs – or assets – that bicultural parents may be hesitant or unable to articulate.

“I ask my students, who are also future teachers, to look beyond obvious behavior to understand how they as teachers may implicitly be pushing these parents away or devaluing what they can do for the school and for their children,” he says.

Olivos values Dominguez Hills as “a very strategic location to do great things with students who will someday interact with bicultural parent and student populations.” He cites the diversity of the campus as key to teaching the importance of bicultural parental involvement.

“Many of our students bring with them the valuable first-hand experience of what it was like to be bicultural in the school system and the challenges their parents faced trying to assure that they had a good education,” he says. “Many of the scenarios we read about, our students and their parents have lived. These are experiences that cannot be duplicated in other universities, no matter how many books you read.”

- Joanie Harmon