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Demographic shifts require changes in school communication
School leaders must broaden their thinking to engage new groups of parents and stakeholders
Changing demographics are creating new school communication challenges.
Unprecedented demographic shifts in the U.S. are creating a communications gap between teachers, principals, and the students and families they serve, forcing educators to rethink their school communication strategies.
Minorities will become the majority of children under 18 by 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Educators and school communicators, on the other hand, are predominately non-Hispanic white females.
The gap is also socioeconomic in nature, because children of color are often poor as well, while teachers and other school officials are solidly middle to upper-middle class.
In terms of education, the gap widens even further, with educators holding more advanced degrees than most other American workers have—including their students’ parents.
All these trends will require profound changes in parent engagement and school communication, as well as classroom instruction.
Tried-and-true school communication methods, such as fliers, memos, teacher notes, eMail messages, and newsletters—typically written in college-level English—aren’t going to reach parents who struggle to read or who might not be literate in their own native language.
Connecting by phone is also a challenge with parents who change cell phone numbers and move frequently to stay one step ahead of the bill collector.
Home visits are more difficult to have with families who bounce between homeless shelters, relatives, friends, hotels, and other temporary housing.
These issues make school communication with many families more difficult and complex, though not impossible.
4 Responses to Demographic shifts require changes in school communication
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ccurtis
December 15, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Why does the American education system have to change! The parents need to learn to speak English and learn the American way of doing things. We are expected to do the same in their country, so they need to do it ours. I’m sick and tired of have to adapt to other cultures because they won’t adapt to ours. If they don’t like it, leave or put their kids in a private school.
ccurtis
December 15, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Why does the American education system have to change! The parents need to learn to speak English and learn the American way of doing things. We are expected to do the same in their country, so they need to do it ours. I’m sick and tired of have to adapt to other cultures because they won’t adapt to ours. If they don’t like it, leave or put their kids in a private school.
msteve2050
December 16, 2010 at 11:24 am
Thanks for providing another forum for this important issue. It’s important because ‘minority’ is not a synonym for ‘immigrant’ and this demographic shift is taking place among US citizens, fully protected by the US Constitution to engage in and pursue life within the legal parameters of personal ethnicity, race, language, religion, and culture. English is the current international language of commerce and it is important to equip all our students with language, academic, and life skills for success. At the same time, educators have a mandate to understand and affirm the contributions all of our US citizen groups have made in creating a unique social-political place on earth. The American way of doing things is historically adaptive. American schools have historically changed in reaction to social and political trends. It would be truly American for educators to intentionally adapt to upcoming realities in the demographic composition of our society.
msteve2050
December 16, 2010 at 11:24 am
Thanks for providing another forum for this important issue. It’s important because ‘minority’ is not a synonym for ‘immigrant’ and this demographic shift is taking place among US citizens, fully protected by the US Constitution to engage in and pursue life within the legal parameters of personal ethnicity, race, language, religion, and culture. English is the current international language of commerce and it is important to equip all our students with language, academic, and life skills for success. At the same time, educators have a mandate to understand and affirm the contributions all of our US citizen groups have made in creating a unique social-political place on earth. The American way of doing things is historically adaptive. American schools have historically changed in reaction to social and political trends. It would be truly American for educators to intentionally adapt to upcoming realities in the demographic composition of our society.
miasmith
December 16, 2010 at 1:37 pm
On what planet are teachers solidly in the middle to upper class? In my district a teacher with no income other than his or her salary cannot buy a home and can barely make it from paycheck to paycheck. They have to have summer jobs to make it to September as well.
miasmith
December 16, 2010 at 1:37 pm
On what planet are teachers solidly in the middle to upper class? In my district a teacher with no income other than his or her salary cannot buy a home and can barely make it from paycheck to paycheck. They have to have summer jobs to make it to September as well.
computerhead
December 17, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I agree with the comment about what economic class teachers are in.
Precariously lower middle class would be an accurate description. And some have called teaching a quasi-profession when it comes to working environment. Teachers are solidly in the middle class when it comes
to worldview, however. And here is where the disconnect occurs when dealing with those with a different field of experience and a different mindset.
computerhead
December 17, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I agree with the comment about what economic class teachers are in.
Precariously lower middle class would be an accurate description. And some have called teaching a quasi-profession when it comes to working environment. Teachers are solidly in the middle class when it comes
to worldview, however. And here is where the disconnect occurs when dealing with those with a different field of experience and a different mindset.