4. INVOLVING FAMILY IN POLICEMAKING
Encouraging family members to participate in school activities is vital. Strong parent and family involvement is one factor that research has shown time and time again to have positive effects on the academic achievement and school attitudes (Ovando & Collier, 1998). Every society has its view of what kind of family involvement in schools is effective and appropriate. In addition, each school has its own version. Some schools want families to be involved only in specific ways and at times determined by the staff. Other schools are run completely by parents, who control curriculum selection and hiring and firing of staff. In brief in can be said that either the schools are run by school staffs or completely by parents, the involvement of parents in controlling or making policy that benefit the learners is definitely necessary.
A Model of Home-School Relationship
Faltis (2001) provides a four-level sequence for home-school relationship based on an earlier model proposed by Rasinski and Fredericks (1989). Although teachers may not able to reach the highest level of parental involvement at a particular school site, the model presents an overall view of the possibilities. This reciprocal process is as follows.
| No | Level of Involvement | Description of Activity |
| 1 | Teacher-parent contact | The teacher learns about parents’ daily experiences and initiates positive home-school contact and dialogue by chatting, making home visits, talking with community workers, and arranging for afterschool homework help or tutoring to promote students’ success. |
| 2 | Sharing Information in the home about schooling | The teacher keeps the parents informed about important of school and community events and meetings, changes in school schedules, help available from community based organizations and sources of academic support, using such means as student-produced newsletter, personal notes, telephone calls, and other notices. |
| 3 | Participation at home and school | Parents, caregivers, and other corcerned adults are welcomed and encouraged to come to class and to attend school meetings and social events. Parents may linger in the morning to watch reading and writing take place or to see a little poetry reading especially is it takes place in the home language. Students may have assigned to find out about their families’ knowledge of planting, banking, etc., that the teachers can find a way to use and elaborate on in class. |
| 4 | Parental empowerment in curricular decisions | After the success of the previous three levels, teachers support parents who become involved as colleagues in professional activities and decisions. Some parents form advisory committees, start community tutoring centers and find multiple means to influence school policy and support academic learning outside the classroom. The role of the teacher is encouraging the work with parents to make these possible. |
Furthermore, Diaz and Rico provide several ways for educators to involve Families in Schooling.
1. Providing Information
- Informally chat with family members as they pick up their child after school.
- Use the telephone as an instrument.
- Videotape program for family.
- Provide handouts that describe programs available through the schools
- Send home notes for the family
2. Showcase English Learners
- Enters students in poetry, essay, or art contests or exhibits sponsored by community or professional organizations.
- Offer to train students how to read aloud at libraries or children’s centers.
3. Brings parents to school
- Encourage family members to come to class to make crafts with students or to discuss culture, calligraphy or family history.
- Suggest specific ways family members can help to promote achievement.
- Make meetings into social events, providing food and dramatic or musical performances if time permits.
4. Workshop and Family Support Groups
- Hold workshops to construct home learning materials.
- Open a family learning center.
Teacher-Family Conference
Preparation for meetings with families enhances their chances of success. The concerned teacher makes sure that scheduled times are convenient for family members and prepares a portfolio of the students successes. The conference might begin with a limited amount of small talk, especially if there has been a recent notable family event. Then the teacher reviews the student’s performance, using the portfolio or other evidence of student work. Listening to family members helps the teacher to get a more complete view of the child.
When parents and teachers meet in conference, they both bring with them their own school experiences – what went right and what went wrong; they are determinated for schooling to be different for the child they both care about.
Example:
In Indonesia most of school has an association of students’ parents which is usually known as Komite Sekolah or School Committee. It usually has principles such the chief, its vice, secretary and also treasurer. The school’s committee is usually involved by the school in making decision or policy, for example, in solving the problems happened at school, deciding a additional lesson for the students, etc. Besides, the conference between the parents and the teachers at school is usually held periodically, especially in the beginning and in the end of each semester.
ü Influencing Community Public Opinion
A supportive community offers a home for linguistic and cultural diversity. Proactive publicity and public relations can represent English learners as positive contributors in the community. Letters to the editor of a local paper can serve as means to persuade the public to support the instruction of English learners and also the teachers and other staff members can influence community public opinion in several ways. Example: Congress first considered declaring English the nation's official language in 1981, when a constitutional English language amendment was introduced by Senator Samuel Hayakawa. Its primary mission of making English the official language of the United States, the lobbying arm also actively opposes bilingual education and Puerto Rican statehood.
In the period between World War I and World War II was characterized by generally negative attitudes toward languages, hostile treatment of language minority groups, lack of interest in foreign language study, and explicit assimilations school language policies. The summative effect of U.S. school language policies in this period was rapid language erosion. With schools as English-only environments, language minority children grew up feeling ashamed of their native language, quickly replaced it with English, and found themselves unable to speak to their grandparents, relatives, and sometimes even their parents.
Civil rights legislation heightened public attention to many policies and practices that were discriminatory to minorities in the U.S. In 1965, the English literacy requirement for voting was abolished, thereby recognizing a citizen's right to vote regardless of their level of English proficiency. Exclusionary immigration quotas that limited immigration from certain parts of the world, such as the Mediterranean and African countries, were relaxed (1965). The performance of public schools in ensuring equal access to social and economic life in the U.S. was questioned on the grounds that a disproportionate number of language minority students were failing and/or dropping out of school (Navarro, 1985; Paulston, 1978).
ü Influencing Legislation and Public Opinion
Why has the United States never designated an official language? A common assumption is that we have been an essentially monolingual nation. Because the vast majority of citizens spoke English as their native language, or learned to speak English soon after immigrating here, there was no serious competition from other tongues. Ethnic languages survived in private schools, homes, churches, and clubs, but before the 1960s no one expected the taxpayers to subsidize their maintenance. Without demands for bilingual services, the language of government was not at issue. Therefore, there was no need to consider language legislation.
State and national legislators are responsive to popular opinion as expressed by letters of support and phone calls on controversial issue. It is important for legislators to hear from professionals in the field. Bilingual education and language issue often arouse strong emotions, perhaps because language policies affect the criteria set for success in the employment vital to economic survival and success in the United States (Heath, 1983a). Example: The United States Information and Cultural Exchange Act (Smith-Mundt Act) established the programming mandate that still serves as the charter for U.S. overseas information and established the framework for cultural and educational exchange programs. It also supported Voice of America, a U.S. organization that has broadcast news and information in numerous languages around the world since 1942, under the auspices of the Office of International Information at the Department of State (Fulbright-Hays Act, n.d.).
ü Influencing Federal Policies
Language policies – established via legislation, court decisions, executive action, or other means – may 1) determine how languages are used in public, 2) abet the cultivation of language skills needed to meet national priorities, or 3) affirm and protect the rights of individuals or groups to learn, use, and maintain languages. They may also deal with a government’s own language use, e.g., by facilitating clear communication, guaranteeing due process, fostering political participation, and/or providing access to public services. The United States has never had a federal language policy. There is no federal agency charged with coordinating decisions about language use or resources. Yet it is impossible for the U.S. or any government to be neutral towards language because governments necessarily make choices about which language or languages to communicate in. These choices influence the value of the linguistic capital of various groups in the population, especially immigrants whose native language is not a primary language of the host country. The same is true of the institutional contexts for work and school. In the U.S., the dominance of English in government, industry, education, and popular culture has made it the most important element in the construction of national identity, both as a communicative instrument shared by members of the nation and as a boundary marker affirming their distinction from others (Zolberg and Long 1999).
In the history of the United States, decisions about subordinate languages have sometimes been supportive and sometimes repressive. Federal funding for innovative programs can greatly benefit English Learners. Federal funds are available to design innovative programs that provide success for all students. Public opinion and lobbying efforts play a large role in determining the continuation of programs that benefit English Learners. Participating in lobbying that supports these programs is a chance for teachers to use the literacy they advocate. Example: Appropriations for FLAP (a policy in its own right) have varied over the years from $10 million originally to $5 million through the nineties with increases since 1998 to over $25 million at present, thanks to the efforts of Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), working with JNCL/NCLIS to enlarge the program. The George W. Bush Administration requested the program’s elimination each year until 2007, when it was incorporated into the President’s National Security Initiative (NSLI). The program has been further shaped and refined, partially by the language professionals who have been awarded FLAP grants, through two subsequent reauthorizations of ESEA (the last being No Child Left Behind in 2001).
ü The National Spirit
A national spirit is created in part by individuals who voice their opinions freely. Controversial media figures also shape the national spirit. The community must take steps to defuse the voices of demagogues by writing a letter to national networks voicing opposition and distaste for racist viewpoints. Educators who share the culture and language of the minority communities have a natural function as community leaders. Example: Deborah Schildkraut from his book entitled ‘Press "ONE" for English: Language Policy, Public Opinion, and American Identity’ shows that people's conceptions of American national identity play an integral role in shaping their views. Using insights from American political thought and intellectual history, she highlights several components of that identity and shows how they are brought to bear on debates about language. Her analysis expands the range of factors typically thought to explain attitudes in such policy areas, emphasizing in particular the role that civic republicanism's call for active and responsible citizenship plays in shaping opinion on language issues.
So, it can be said the community and the entire component on the government have a big role and policies in support the English learner in united state. The example, like: Appropriations for FLAP (a policy in its own right) have varied over the years from $10 million originally to $5 million through the nineties with increases since 1998 to over $25 million at present, thanks to the efforts of Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), working with JNCL/NCLIS to enlarge the program. The George W. Bush Administration requested the program’s elimination each year until 2007, when it was incorporated into the President’s National Security Initiative (NSLI). The program has been further shaped and refined, partially by the language professionals who have been awarded FLAP grants, through two subsequent reauthorizations of ESEA (the last being No Child Left Behind in 2001).
CONCLUSION
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. Language Policy is highly relevant to scholars, students, specialists and policy-makers working in the fields of applied linguistics, language policy, sociolinguistics, and language teaching and learning. Language policy is applied both in classroom and school environment. Beside that, The role of the family in their children education at school is very important. Family especially parents can also make a school policy that can benefit their children in learning, although not all family realize it. In this case, the role of the school staffs such as school principals and teachers to invite the family to care about their children education. They have to be given information continuously about the program or activities which have been or will be carried out by the school through e-mail, web-site, conference, school magazine, etc. by having information about the program carried out by the school, the family or parents are able to control, monitor and evaluate its implementation. And the family is also able to make policy which is needed based on the condition, needs and problem needed by the students. Moreover, it also can be said that the community and the entire component on the government have a big role and policies in support the English learners.
REFERENCES:
Lvnne, T. Dias-Rico.2008. Strategies for Teaching English Learners.United States of America. Pearson Education, Inc.
Shohamy, E.; K. King. 2009. Language Policy. Retrieved on January, 1, 2011. http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/linguistics/journal/10993.
Spolsky, Bernard.2005.Language Policy. ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, ed. James Cohen, Kara T. McAlister, Kellie Rolstad, and Jeff MacSwan, 2152-2164. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. Retrieved on January, 1, 2011. www.lingref.com.
________.2010. Language policy of Harare International School. http://www.hiszim.com/elementary_school/publications/Language_policy.pdf. . Retrieved on January, 1, 2011.
_________2011. Sample Language Policy For a Primary School. http://www.bgfl.org. Retrieved on January, 13, 2011.
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