Welcome to my new column. Primarily dealing with cross-cultural issues, it will also suggest ways of improving the self-esteem of our children. The topic for today is "User- friendly Schools".

In this world of fast-foods, video-games, race-relations policies, and new political parties, many people find quick ways of eliminating their sorrows. And yet there is a segment of our society: the so-called visible minority group, for whom such a luxury does not exist.

These are the people who are faced with linguistic, cultural, economic, social, demographic and emotional difficulties. Several of them have gone through a change of status. The respected positions they had in their native countries are no longer recognized. They are unable to obtain jobs that will match their skills. Instead they find themselves relegated to menial jobs. This change of circumstances is very devastating. Some do not know where to seek help. Forced to stay aloof from the new country they now call home, they become marginalized. Sadly enough, these are the role models for second-generation kids. They are the founts of knowledge and the reservoir of values for these children who hope to participate actively in the re-shaping of their own country.

One can indeed appreciate the cultural limbo in which these youngsters find themselves. How can they compete fairly with their 'Canadian' counterparts ?

In my humble opinion, a stronger partnership between immigrant parents and the schools frequented by their children is imperative. I am not talking about the habitual definitions of parental involvement which is "limited to traditional activities such as attendance at open house nights, routine parent-teacher conferences, monitoring of reinforcing of school discipline policies. These tend to 'involve' parents in one-way communication: from school to home, rather than in a partnership where each partner is truly respected as having something valuable to contribute." 1

One of the best ways to establish this alliance with the parents is to make the schools user-friendly. Unless we bring the schools to the parents, schools will remain sacrosanct to them. We cannot allow this to happen !

Schools must find better ways of communicating with immigrant parents. For some of these parents, the English language is the biggest stumbling block ! Several parents have painfully recounted horrid experiences they have encountered as they tried vainly to communicate their ideas to others. They have been humiliated, abused and made to feel stupid ! The ability to communicate clearly in English has suddenly become the yardstick (meterstick?) of intelligence ! Indeed, my career has been adversely affected by my apparent inability to communicate clearly during interviews for positions of added responsibility.

What I really find curious is the fact that most, if not all, immigrants are polyglots (capable of speaking several languages) ! How many 'Canadians', I wonder, are able to speak another language ? Let us therefore not condemn those who are making a valiant effort to communicate in another language.2 to be continued in the next issue .... *1 Cochran,Moncrieff & Dean,Christiann,"Home-School Relations and the Empowerment Process."The Elementary School Journal,Vol.91,#3,Jan.91. *2 A Caveat to our Critics: Please do not dwell on our grammatical errors, concentrate on the message instead!

This article was originally published in Cross Cultures Magazine in Volume 1 - Issue 1 - 1991. Unauthorized copying, distribution or other usage without express written permission of the publisher is prohibited.