About this session

Thursday, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Rethinking Family Engagement and Home-School Relations: Sociocultural, Linguistic, and Multigenerational Dynamics in Chinese Immigrant Families

Despite fast-growing populations of children with Asian immigrant parents in U.S. schools, research on their home-school relations and diverse engagement practices has been limited, leading to continued misconceptions and marginalization of these families. This symposium focuses on sociocultural and linguistic dimensions of divergent family engagement practices and beliefs among Chinese immigrant families in early childhood, the largest Asian immigrant ethnic group. Each study employs distinct methodological approaches and investigates diverse contextual processes to uncover potential directions for home-school alignment and equitable family-school partnerships. Paper 1 examines family roles in maintaining heritage language and their culturally-grounded strategies to foster young children’s bilingualism and biliteracy through a systematic review of multilingual Chinese immigrant families, both in Western and Asian countries. Paper 2 employs qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews and demonstrates Chinese immigrant parents’ effortful processes and increased responsibilities in navigating family lives, child care and early education. Further, the paper highlights roles of grandparents in cultural socialization, especially in the context of navigating intergenerational expertise and racial discrimination. Finally, Paper 3 focuses on perceptions of home-school relations among low-income and middle-SES Chinese immigrant parents with six-year-old children. Using a mixed method approach, it demonstrates misalignment in educational expectations between parents and schools, and a low sense of efficacy in contacting and engaging school among low-income parents. Our discussant, an expert on culturally responsive teaching and racial/ethnic socialization, will discuss educational implications. Collectively, the findings bring insights for promoting stronger home-school relations with Chinese and multilingual Asian immigrant families in early childhood.

Paper #1
Title	Family Language Socialization of Chinese Emergent Bilingual Learners in Cross-National Contexts: A Systematic Review
Presenting author	Dr. Soojin Oh Park, Ph.D., University of Washington College of Education, United States

Paper #2
Title	Of Traditions and Transitions: Childcare Roles and Bi-cultural Identities in Multigenerational Chinese Immigrant Families
Presenting author	Xiaohan Zhu, Fordham University, United States

Paper #3
Title	Chinese Immigrant Parents’ Perceptions of Home-School Relations Across Socioeconomic Groups: A Mixed Method Study
Presenting author	Yoko Yamamoto, Ph.D., Brown University, United States

View all paper details

Session chair
Yoko Yamamoto, Ph.D., Brown University, United States

Discussant
Dr. Mona M. Abo-Zena, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Boston, United States

⇦ Back to schedule