Leading Mexican American Communities Equitably

Title: Leading Mexican American Communities Equitably. 

Blog Series Name: Deficit Thinking in Education.

Mexican American students need to feel a sense of belonging within their schools. The same goes for their parents. School principals can do this by building inclusive schools that are culturally responsive.

An inclusive school that emphasizes belonging has a welcoming climate for the student and for their families, in hopes of developing strong partnerships. A welcoming climate begins in the front office as soon as students and parents walk into the building. Those first few moments have the power to set the tone for the remainder of the partnership.

When you consider culturally responsive practice, self-awareness is key, as it requires one to understand the diverse students that they serve. When educators are self-aware, they tend to have a growth mindset that enables them to consider the perspective of their students. Considering the perspective of their students means understanding their background, celebrating their identity by including their personal stories in the lessons, and providing them ample opportunities to use their voices. Their voices matter especially when the characters in the literature do not necessarily look like them.

Principals are in an influential position to incorporate strategies that enable inclusive school environments, which include creating welcoming schools. There are distractions from principals doing the work required to build and maintain school communities equitably. This includes the stressors of high-stakes testing, time-consuming district directives, and adult-centered problems. They can distract principals from prioritizing building strong connections with families by getting to know them and understanding their needs.  

But the work can and must be done for a school to truly become a community school that looks at all students and their parents with an asset-based mindset.   

Part of the process for principals is being a community principal, which will be more thoroughly explained in the next blog: Advocating for Equitable Education.

Part 7 of 7 of this blog series is next: Advocating for Equitable Education.