Week Four – Home School Connections

Much like the exploration of lifeworlds discussed last week, creating a home school connection allows teachers to gain greater insight into their students and their backgrounds and therefore cater an appropriate pedagogical approach (Allen, 2009).

As Phillips (2013) and Allen (2009) discuss, in order to develop effective literacy practices for students, it is important to build connections between home and school life. For these connections to be effective, they must be positive, trusting and share responsibility over the learning of the child (Allen, 2009).

An effective method for creating a positive and beneficial home school connection that was discussed in both the lecture and the reading this week (Phillips, 2013; Allen, 2009) was constructing a cultural memoir. Allen (2009) states that allowing culture to become an important aspect of the home school relationship, means that differences are able to be respected and discussed openly so that appropriate teaching methods are able to be used in order to assist the student in their learning. It also places value on diversity within the classroom environment and encourages students to learn about other students’ cultures, traditions and lifeworlds.

This discussion prompted me to explore a cultural artefact of my own and reflect on how it has impacted on my learning.

The picture above displays cultural artefacts that are very important to me as they are cultural influences that reflect my core values and who I am as a person (Phillips, 2013). The artefacts that I have chosen have been collected on various trips to Fiji and Papua New Guinea. I have been travelling here my whole life, making many friends and learning about and embracing their culture and traditions. These experiences have made me the person I am as they have changed the way I view others and view myself. They have also impacted upon the values that I hold dear and my future goals. I have seen the way in which those who are much less privileged than myself live and I therefore place great value on education and family and am appreciative of my circumstances and opportunities.