With partners:
The Community Diversity Facilitator
Government schools dealing with intercultural issues involving Arab-Australian students often depend on support from outside agencies, such as Australian Lebanese Welfare, Foundation House, MindMatters or VASS. The availability of services is highly dependent on the strength of community networks in a given area, a factor which can be affected by transient populations. The availibility of services is also dependent on the ability of the school itself, particularly the principal, to generate and maintain links and funding required to run support programs.The main issues arising from our research concern the challenges faced by students and parents entering a new environment, to which they have to adapt in order to succeed and belong. Research with teachers has shown that it is important to develop a more sophisticated level of teacher/staff receptivity to the challenges and advantages of culturally diverse environments. There is generally no structural mechanism for dealing with these issues, in terms of training, professional development and available time. Rather than purely focussing on what teachers can deliver, it is more effective to focus on what can be delivered to teachers.
VASS initiated the Community Diversity Facilitator (CDF) as a support and contact point for school parents from Arabic speaking backgrounds. The CDF is the liaison person between school and home, facilitating parent/teacher/student dialogue. The CDF is also involved in some case work and referral for families experiencing difficulties in such crucial tasks as translating newsletters. The CDF may also assist with interpreting at parent-teacher nights, building parental relationships with the school, developing parents' confidence to attend the school, arranging PD on cultural matters for staff/teachers and encouraging ASB parent participation in the school.
Challenges faced by the CDF
The major challenge is to facilitate the attendance of parents at the school and their participation in school events. There are many reasons why this is difficult: the logistics of large families, parents who may do shift work, a lack of confidence or experience with schools, an entrenched belief that they as parents have no role to play in their child’s education and language barriers.
Value to schools of CDF
The CDF is not only valuable but essential to bridge the language and cultural gaps. Without a CDF, the school is constrained in its ability to inform and engage parents. This places stress on the school, and often, an even greater stress on students who absorb full responsibility for maintaining the lines of communication between school and family. This is a huge responsibility for students who are often themselves struggling with a range of settlement issues.