World Café Ideas
November 4, 2010
What Do Our Students Need: At Home
Barriers
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Culture of learning at home.
Lack of culture experiences.
Family responsibilities in poor families
taking time away from studying and
homework.
So intimidated by schools.
Lower income peers value conformity over
achievement.
Group solidarity is not important.
Kids come from dysfunctional homes.
Peers. Fear of not fitting in-parents not part
of PTA culture.
We demand a lot and teachers and school.
College town.
Parental stress (may be intimidated to go to
work in the school system).
How can we reach out to those who might
already have a label?
How can we educate or deal with 3rd, 4th, 5th
generation of poverty/low education?
No parent at home in evening.
What makes the difference from one student
to another with similar cultural background,
finances, etc.?
Why is focus on college prep classes? Why
at school?
Focus on minority instead of at risk. Who
tells one ethnic background can’t success as
well as another?
Working 2 or more jobs, working a nontraditional schedule.
Lack of transportation.
Class based cultural differences.
World Café Ideas: At Home, Barriers
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In single parent households-less time
available for each child.
Columbia is a college town. Landlords can
rent to college students and can count on it
being paid.
Intimidation factor for parents. People are
defensive, feel the need to defend their kids,
their race.
Parent schedules differ from schools.
Kid coming home hungry.
Parental view of education.
Parental view of how to survive.
Lower expectations.
Bias.
Past experiences.
Racial barriers.
Lack of understanding.
Perception that Blacks can’t succeed.
Parents busy working.
Parents lack time or skills to teach their
children.
Bad media messages-T.V.
Communication barriers.
Hard to break from peer group.
Disenfranchised parents.
Work schedules.
Lack of support for parents who have been
released from incarceration.
Willingness to participate in programs.
Access to technology.
Parents uncomfortable in schools/do not
have time. (4)
Uneducated parents. (5)
Value placed on education. (3)
Page 1 of 5
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Regardless of level of education because of
the way CPS does curriculum; they can’t
help with homework.
Level of parental expectations.
Not doing enough-doing all homework.
Parents need support included with drug
training.
Safety/security.
Ethnic barriers don’t make sense.
How to engage parents at home.
Gender barrier.
Parental experience in schools.
True history isn’t being taught in school and
home.
Parents’ history and experiences with
schools.
Parents need to be encouraged.
Parents need to see the benefit of working
hard for education.
Mental health issues. (8)
Absent parents-working multiple jobs.
Drug and alcohol issues for adults.
Difficult to control what happens at home!
We can’t help the children until we help the
home.
Parental importance of education.
Lack of accountability for all-families,
school, and community agencies.
Poverty. (3)
Poor reverence and respect to teachers.
Young single parents’ barriers for
development. (2)
Need for parental involvement.
Kids with cell phones, overload of electronic
media.
Too much time focusing on homework.
Learned behaviors.
Media.
Schools liaisons lack the authority to
identify liabilities in the true nature of a
family crisis.
World Café Ideas: At Home, Barriers
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Parents that don’t care; parents too
extended.
No extended family (Columbia Transit)have to “build” a family.
Socio-economic barriers.
Parents feel disconnected from school.
Low income.
Bills.
Family issues, drugs, etc.
Living conditions.
Social Services.
Economy. (6)
Self esteem.
Resource mothers gone.
Lack of the value of reaching.
Parent not getting the information on test
answers.
Many small organizations.
Families.
Generational education.
Agencies/programs don’t work together.
(Privacy Act makes it difficult).
Parents are overwhelmed.
Homes with drugs and alcohol.
Families who have lived in Columbia a long
time have a good network of support.
Transition families may not have those same
connections.
Families are so stressed by poverty. We
need a better way to match up families with
resources.
There is a missing conduit or lack between
parents and schools.
Affordable housing. (6)
Lack of knowledge about resources. (5)
Overwhelmed, not aware of other parenting
skills.
Excuses. (2)
Parenting skills-cycle.
Saying no.
Consistency.
Page 2 of 5
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Change in family dynamics.
Sense of entitlement.
Parent knowledge.
Parent access-when working low wage jobs
and reading.
Parents overwhelmed with responsibility.
Working multiple jobs. (9)
Using too many email/web programs
(Angel, etc.).
Teachers don’t initiate telling when things
aren’t doing well.
Not everyone has a computer, phone, etc.
Can’t always access tutors and resources.
Unequal access to computers.
Teachers need help.
Inappropriate expectations of parents-i.e.
boy using urinal.
T.V./video games. (5)
Pregnancy.
Society expectations/limits.
Absence of role models.
Reading deficiency.
Absence of the church.
Programs have been reduced and out.
Out Reach Counselors reduced by half. (3)
Parents as Teachers cut. (3)
Where are the community leaders?
Multi generational connection-no money.
$$-too many cuts.
Inter generalizational experiences.
Pride. (4)
Not knowing.
Parents level of education.
Using the walls of the school to define the
involvement.
Cuts of HSC.
In the 5th grade, students start to listen to
peer pressure and dumb down so as not to
stand out.
Children too young when they have
children.
World Café Ideas: At Home, Barriers
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Don’t have a home.
Fear of violence.
Absent father.
Parents are allowed to take from the system
without any responsibility.
Parents need to experience a positive
educational experience. Mentor from the
other parents who are successful.
Child care.
Single parent.
Education for youth perceived perceptions
of sterotypes.
Amount of junior high and high school girls
getting pregnant.
Negative talk at home/parents not
encouraging their children they can succeed.
Funding for MAC Scholars.
Positive mentoring.
New teaching methodologies are different
then parents experiences making it difficult
to help.
Families in survival mode.
Parents may not know how to support their
kids learning.
Economics-food and water.
Transportation-for Title I Preschool.
Parents supporting school.
“Experience” gap.
Rely on school and teachers to take care of
everything.
Transportation. (12)
Communication.
Parental complacency-don’t need education,
school will take care of it.
Illiterate parents.
School is not always flexible.
Title I building has to have certain % of
Free/Reduced lunches.
What peers are doing.
Lack of resources. (9)
Time.
Page 3 of 5
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Past cultural history.
Our community is so polarized.
Lack of “family unit” and structure.
Parents did not have good experiences with
schools.
Access to student/school resources limited
to parent/guardian.
Mobility.
Parents make poor choices.
Close “experience gaps” for kids, i.e. lack of
experiences some kids have at home.
The system-public transportation, hoops to
jump through.
Parenting skills, tools to support their
children in a positive way at school.
Teenager parenting.
Teacher to teacher reading recovery.
Boundaries.
Mis-sense of belonging ½ of kids move in
low SES.
Emotional tools.
Lack of parents/broken home. (3)
Responsibility.
Lack of confidence.
No rules.
Community no longer assisting to raise
children.
Single parents having to work. (3)
Fears of litigation.
Lack of interest in children’s school.
Caregivers with problems who need help.
Digital divide-lack of computer access.
Other home resources.
Limited parent education-district should
support ABE.
Lack of teacher knowledge of
homes/parents.
Americans are afraid to ask for help, work
as a group/team/community.
Lack of communication from teachers to
parents.
World Café Ideas: At Home, Barriers
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Can’t control the friends.
Gratification.
Image that kids see-black kid gets in trouble.
Hunger.
Parents aren’t prioritizing children.
Everyone is talking about the problems, but
not doing anything.
Conflicting cultures of the home and the
school. (3)
Economic and social status.
Communication techniques, phones, email,
mail, home visits. (5)
Bridging gap between home and school.
Kids getting negative message at home
about school.
Transportation-access to school for extracurricular and tutoring!
Don’t know what is at home.
Economic situation.
Crime, abuse, lack of food, high stress.
Lack of interest from the parents.
Parents not believing in the education
system.
Neighborhood/conflict.
Teachers pay.
Parental complacent.
Parents think the school is responsible.
Lack of knowledge to after school programs.
Programs are located in central city.
Cultural differences.
Parents send message that school is not so
crucial.
Lacking basic needs.
City Wi-Fi funding. (6)
Home School Communicators cut. (5)
Support.
Negative image portrayed at home.
Not enough role models.
Engaging families.
Homes are not conducive for study.
Low parental expectations.
Page 4 of 5
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Poverty lowers ability of parents to teach
(time and exhaustion).
Stoney Creek-$. Are you serious? Less
access and intimidating for some.
Fear based society.
Build support groups.
Being impoverished in general.
Involvement.
Education can’t always come from school.
Disconnect between the schools that want
college role models-and students who want
Parents as Teachers to volunteer youth
groups.
Under-low employment.
Kids do not see the long term benefits.
Neighborhood association needs to have
direct connection with.
Some kids do not know how to navigate the
norms.
Not being understood.
Media image.
Getting access to resources.
Not communicating positives.
World Café Ideas: At Home, Barriers
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