Creative Intelligence of Families: Bridges to School Learning

Primary Teachers' Beliefs about Family Competence to Influence Classroom Practices

“…Professional knowledge is built on research and scientific theories and therefore viewed by teachers as "truth." Family knowledge is anecdotal knowledge that is emotionally based and considered as less legitimate (Ferguson & Squires, 1998;Gifford, 1992;Hughes & MacNaughton, 1999, 2000Leichter, 1996;Swap, 1993). Co-decision-making between teachers and families means teachers need to relinquish their expert status.…”

“…Rather than the information being used to further understand or more effectively work with the child and family, according to Becky, it was used only to provide a rationale for child difficulty. Leichter (1996) pinpointed a difference regarding the use and purpose of information about the family. She found that often the information obtained from families was limited to evaluative or judgmental purposes, rather than an open-ended search for the interests, activities, and circumstances of families, or an appreciation of the meaning family members attach to their situations.…”

“…The best way for early childhood teachers to find out about children's cultural backgrounds is to rely on the families (Clark, 1995;Delpit, 1995;Kawakami, 1995;Leichter, 1996). Teachers cannot hope to begin to understand the students in their classrooms unless they connect with the families and communities from which their students come.…”

“…For example, parents might function as codecision makers to influence their child's educational program. The second direction emphasizes the school staff influencing the home to be more like school so children will be familiar with learning styles characteristic of the school and with mastery of content deemed necessary for school achievement (Leichter, 1996;Powell, 1994). For example, the school might provide information/meetings on child development and guidance or the teacher might suggest ways to guide reading at home.…”

“…Teachers' understanding of the everyday lives of families can reduce discontinuities. For example, engaging in organizing grocery coupons or baseball cards, regular family activities, may be more valuable for a child to do at home than a workbook page (Leichter, 1996).…”