Advocacy Action Plan

Part 3: Peer-to-Peer Relationships

Creating a positive relationship in class brings a great impact on learner’s behavioural and academic success. With learners believing that their teachers respect and value them, in return they show respect to their teacher. Such a mutual respect leads the learners into behaving more appropriately as well as actively participating in class activities. Additionally, health peer-to-peer relation enhances inclusion, participation and also makes them feel safe.  When students feel safe in the classroom they are likely to make positive steps, both socially and academically (Dancy, 2018). Though there are many ways to foster peer-to-peer relationship, Group work and in-class discussion have shown to be significant in enhancing integration especially where marks are not awarded.

When teachers give collaborative learning activities, its calls for the students to work as a team and learn the concept and apply it, and also learn how to work as a team embracing diversity and personal difference that comes with both strength and weakness. Studies show that group work has positive effect on learning results. This strategy creates a platform for students to teach and explain content to each other. The concept of team work promotes a setting for collaboration and cooperation an aspect that produces better result and brings out valuable life-long mindset that are essential in the professional workplace (Cohen, & Lotan, 2014). 

For this strategy to work effectively, the instructor has to work extra and create a valuable task that ensures that every member of the group participates. The instructor has to prepare the learners for group work, design the activity and introduce the activity, follow up the activity by monitoring the task and then end the task.  The group should be formed cautiously so as to enhance peer-to-peer-relationship and promote diversity. 

Part 4: Family/Student Support

Research shows that families, communities and schools require strong leadership so as to shift from traditional models with which only school personnel are in learning. By creating a collaborative relationship among, the community, families and schools illustrates a cohesive partnership. This harness resources ensuring that all learners have all the needed support. To attain this, the administration needs to define the institution’s current status with regard to family relations. Successful heads are able to predict this and thus fight any vice through research-based strategies that promote involvement. Studies have shown that, as the teen’s world grow to involve people from the community, their sense of belonging is reinforced, and however, the education process often does not pass this to the learners’ parents, thus creating a gap. Teens whose guardians are involved in their studies are motivated to learn and hence more active in class and thus successful academically (Grant, & Ray, 2018). This results from their parents creating a supportive learning environment. 

Ways to involve families in students’ learning experience

Institutions should assist parents in supporting their children as learners by creating good discipline. 

Recognizing the significance of character education, schools should provide parents with suggestions for activities that help create responsibility in their daily routine. 

Learning institutions should as well help guardian to develop parenting skills necessary at different stages of their child’s development. Here, parents are acquitted with grade appropriate topics. The training ought to involve parents to students with learning difficulties. Trainers should work in collaboration with special educator to develop a range of grade-specific parenting concept which includes remedial activities. 

Students’ character is significant in learning activities as it helps shape their perception and personality. This should be developed earlier creating a strong foundation for the child to learn effectively. It is well developed and reinforced at home making it easy for the teacher. Additionally, having parents who are cognisance with their children’s need creates a collaborative environment that makes learning easy as there is good follow by both the teacher and parent (Grant, & Ray, 2018). 

Part 5: Identifying my Role as an Educational Advocate for Students

Teaching in an international learning facility comes with its challenges. The core barrier to learning is the language especially for student who English is not their native tongue. From my teaching career I have learned that to be effective in this profession, one has to be a teacher and also an advocate for his students as well as their families. Given the environment, we are the cultural brokers who are to help those with language and cultural barrier navigate through the system without prejudice or stereotype.  Additionally, the learners need our protection and attorney among our fellow tutors and the school community at large. This is because most administrators and teachers are ignorant of learners’ special needs as they learn how to adapt to the school curriculum and their respective grade level simultaneously. Language teacher should be aware of the stages of second language acquisition and their experiences in learning English (Dancy, 2018). On the other hand, other content teachers have to be aware of their students’ language need and thus different methods to deliver content without leaving any students back. To achieve this, foreign language teachers will have to be included as they understand better on language acquisition. Nevertheless, this will need a proactive teacher who stands out both to colleagues and the administration as he fights for equity for all learners (Clark, Dyson, & Millward, 2018). I believe having understood the challenges that learners experience in a culturally diverse institution, I will be in the forefront to help advocate their learning needs. Additionally, I will not leave out learners with difficulties in other areas, I will build trust that they can count on my help.  

References 

Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.

Clark, C., Dyson, A., & Millward, A. (2018). Towards inclusive schools?. Routledge.

Cohen, E. G., & Lotan, R. A. (2014). Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom Third Edition. Teachers College Press.

Dancy, K. L. (2018). The Honors College (Doctoral dissertation, Appalachian State University).

Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. A. (Eds.). (2018). Home, school, and community collaboration: Culturally responsive family engagement. Sage Publications.