“There is a popular misconception, especially among teachers, educational policy makers, and fellow (mainstream middle-class) parents that parents who are not a constant presence at the school—chaperoning field trips, attending PTA meetings, baking brownies for the bake sale, simply do not care about their children’s education” Doucet, F. (2011). (Re)constructing home and school: Immigrant parents, agency, and the (un)desirability of bridging multiple worlds. Teachers College Record, 113(12), 2705-2738.

As educators, we must be wary of making any assumptions or being presumptuous regarding the education of any student, regardless of cultural or ethnic backgrounds. Just because a student is an immigrant, does not mandate treating them in a generalized manner applied for all immigrants, nor teaching them in a way that we would teach any other immigrant of that background (generally). Each student comes from a unique home life, with families who desire different levels of interaction or Americanization for their children.

The first mistake we could make as educators would be assuming that a student is automatically different because of his or her immigrant status/ethnic background and therefore generalize that he or she should be treated as an “other” (Worlds Apart theory); this would create fragmentation between parents, the student and his or her peers, and an educational/social achievement gap, as well as potential issues with assimilation, all because of the false and dangerous binaries engendered as consequence. By generalizing all immigrant students as “others” in a sweeping generalization, and assuming that they come from a different world with different norms, values, and practices, we create separate worlds for them to inhabit, and force tension into their lives, creating a clash between in-school and out of school, and their ethnic culture and American culture (to name a few); we are making them feel judged because by separating them and labeling them as a world apart, without trying to understand them, we in effect, are judging them. Because consider this: how wrong is it to automatically assume that just because a parent is not a constant presence at school, it automatically implies that he or she is not invested in his or her child’s education? That would mean we did not take the time to know the student’s situation or understand why the parent could not be there. It is blatantly superficial. As educators we should take the time to understand each individual child and their contexts, especially those of immigrants. Some immigrant families resist Americanization because they think it clashes with their own cultural beliefs, and as educators it is crucial that we know this so as to respect this. With Worlds Apart theory (keeping students generalized as different and separate without knowing them), we wouldn’t attain this level of knowledge or respect, so as to foster effective learning for a child. By knowing our student population, their histories, their families, and their families’ concerns/requests/desires for their children, we will be able to effectively create a classroom community that truly educates together. To successfully do so, establish a parental advocacy community would be a wonderful means of establishing discourse so immigrant parents can discuss adjustment to a new culture and be support to one another, while also communicating their concerns to educators. We must respect that we may not be able to “bridge” cultures in the respect of forcing bridges to be built, but we can individualize our teaching by listening and understanding, for empathy goes the longest mile in the classroom.