The article is a research paper the author submitted as part of her Fellowship granted by Newmark Journalism School (New York).

“If we look at the education system in India in comparison to the one here in America, there is a fundamental difference. In Indian families, there is a great deal of parental involvement in almost every aspect of life and education is no exception. Actually, schools play minor roles in Indian society and it is parents who influence their kids’ future more. In America, it’s perhaps opposite. And hence many Indian families, after migration find it difficult to adjust to the ‘hands-off’ education system here, especially if their child has been in the education system in India before migration.”

Education is indeed a challenging space now. There are exciting possibilities, however both families and educators definitely have to work together as co-learners and co-developers of their wards to shape future generations. They have to collectively figure out what ‘Authentic Engagement’ should look like.

In the post pandemic ‘New Normal’ era, undoubtedly, lots of things in our every-day lives are going to change forever.  Amongst them, surely, we can expect to see significant changes in the education system and what would those changes be? Virtual Classrooms, Online Coursework and long periods of physical absence from school campus are some of the things that we are already witnessing. But these are not all. During a conversation with journalists at the Education Writers Association (EWA) National seminar, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona provided a glimpse of other fundamental changes when he said that as the education department hits the reset button on things, amongst other changes, they want to see more of ‘natural authentic engagement of families’ than they do now.

Expanding on that theme and looking deeper, there is no doubt that the role of families in education has shifted as the pandemic has hit the core of parents’ relationship to their children’s learning and has changed it forever. In America at least, parents have now been forced to engage with children’s classwork and homework much more intensely than before. But is this change similar across all ethnic families? In America, which is a country of immigrants, it’s very crucial to know the cultural background of the family. The upbringing style of kids in aneo–IndianAmerican family, for example, is totally different from a legacy American family.

If we look at the education system in India in comparison to the one here in America, there is a fundamental difference. In Indian families, there is a great deal of parental involvement in almost every aspect of life and education is no exception. Actually, schools play minor roles in Indian society and it is parents who influence their kids’ future more. In America, it’s perhaps opposite. And hence many Indian families, after migration find it difficult to adjust to the ‘hands-off’ education system here, especially if their child has been in the education system in India before migration.

Jaskiran Beri, who recently moved to New York from India with her six-year-old son Kabir, feels that for ‘authentic family engagement’ factors such as the environment, the background of parents, lifestyle, financial stability, responsibilities, cultural awareness, language skills and more need to be appropriately assessed by the education system, or schools as the case may be.

“I feel Indian parents are more anxious when it comes to their child’s education. Even if they don’t find time, they depend upon other community members to help their kids. Indian parents usually are a byproduct of the Indian education system, thus, leading them to be much serious, stricter when it comes to academics”, says Jaskiran.

But as a new age mother, Jaskiran did not find it hard to get accustomed to the American education system here. “I feel the teachers in US are doing a great job! Ever since my son started his schooling, all the teachers, have always been kind enough to involve me in classroom support activities, craft projects, making those phone calls to talk to me personally in case of if they do not understand something that me or my son would say or do. As a parent, I am always involved with the teacher on emails, so I can communicate freely if need be and vice versa. I believe Covid-19 has taught us all how to take care of anything and everything almost remotely. We have been able to pull it off very well without the engagement on a physical level yet being able to keep in touch via other means. We try to work along on overall skills of my child.”

But every recently migrated Indian parent is not like Jaskiran. An educator of Indian origin who works with the Edison (New Jersey) school board (she did not want to be named), says that living and working in the same school district gave her an opportunity to observe certain things that may otherwise go unnoticed. “Edison is typically a township where over 50% of students are from immigrant families of India, and other Asian countries. These last two school years under COVID times, gave me a unique perspective into the family dynamics of the students who are virtual learners. There is a lot of parental involvement here. These are hands-on, very invested in their children’s education, type of grown-ups. While students thrive with such tutelage, sometimes it seems that there is more involvement than necessary. It often ends up being the case where the parents help a bit too much. Sure, that improves grades of the students, but how much they are really learning, remains to be seen.”

“Too much parental involvement might lead to other problems like mental health issues too,”Dr Mousumi Bose, associate professor at Fairfield University and mother of two girls,points out. “Mental health is more mainstream than any of us would want to recognize. Not just in Indian families but in many others, mental health comes in many forms and strengths. And yes, mental and emotional health discussions should be a part of our daily lives just like we discuss food, studies etc.”

Thus, as we see, depending upon cultural and ethnic background of the families, there are enablers and barriers in the way of effective family-school partnerships that are neededto build uniform family engagement practices throughout the American education system.

A Carnegie Corporation of New York report by Karen L. Mapp and Eyal Bergman of the Harvard Graduate School of Education outlines how to reach a more liberatory, solidarity-driven, and equity-focused family engagement practice. “Educators should certainly learn about the research and best practices in family engagement, but they also need to engage in dynamic and interactive experiences with families directly”. Interactive forums that promote family voices offer opportunities for unlearning problematic family engagement practices and propagating meaningful dialogue that builds trust and understanding would help, says the report. “By investing in authentic relationships with families and honoring them as children’s first teachers, educators invariably learn about children’s learning styles, strengths, interests, and values. Educators can then use these “funds of knowledge” to enhance curricular and pedagogical strategies”, it adds.

Education is indeed a challenging space now. There are exciting possibilities, however both families and educators definitely have to work together as co-learners and co-developers of their wards to shape future generations. They have to collectively figure out what ‘Authentic Engagement’ should look like.

(The author is a journalist. She can be reached at tupuroy@gmail.com)

This story was reported with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation