Stepping into Students’ Worlds

Amy Baeder

Teachers rarely live in the same neighborhoods as their students and the natural connections that once came from living nearby have eroded. This change makes it hard for educators to get to know students’ families beyond formal connections like Back to School Night. The gap between teachers’ and students’ worlds is especially worrisome when there is a socioeconomic, racial, or linguistic divide between a school populations’ home culture and most teachers’ home culture. Teachers at Cleveland High School in Seattle attempt to bridge this gap; since 2007, all teachers have been required to visit the homes of at least five of their students. The goal is not to deliver information or discuss problems, but to get to know families and especially gather information on the strengths, abilities, and interests families possess that teachers can work into the classroom. The school finds that opening up such home-school connections makes students feel recognized and engaged. Baeder describes how Cleveland High’s teachers draw on Moll’s concept of “funds of knowledge”—skills and talents all households possess—and Ginsberg’s recommended process for conducting family visits. She shares suggestions for making home visits work logistically in high schools.