Bilingual/Bicultural Paraprofessionals as Brokers of English Learners' Family-Teacher Relationships

2021 ◽

pp. 46-64

Author(s):

Eva I. Díaz ◽

Diana Gonzales Worthen ◽

Conra D. Gist ◽

Christine Smart

Keyword(s):

English Learners ◽

Research Synthesis ◽

Well Being ◽

Research Literature ◽

Home School ◽

Learning Support ◽

Cultural Wealth ◽

Teacher Relationships ◽

Cultural Brokering

For over four decades, bilingual/bicultural paraprofessionals have been vital partakers in the education of English learners (ELs). Scholars have underscored school districts' reliance on them for instructional/learning support and their potential as builders of home-school bridges. Moreover, family-teacher relationships are essential to ELs' positive academic and well-being outcomes. Nevertheless, the paraprofessional's role in bridging relationships between teachers and families of ELs is less understood. This chapter presents a research synthesis of the extant peer-reviewed research literature published in the last 30 years on the role of bilingual/bicultural paraprofessionals in promoting more equitable relationships between the families and teachers of ELs. Three main themes emerged, including (a) building trust, (b) connecting families and teachers via linguistic and cultural brokering, and (c) activating biographical community cultural wealth. The findings also highlight the need for positioning relational brokering as equally crucial as linguistic and cultural brokering. Implications for practice and research are addressed.

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"Doing Right By": Teacher Aides, Students with Disabilities, and Relational Social Justice

Harvard Educational Review ◽

10.17763/haer.81.1.wu14717488wx2001 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 81 (1) ◽

pp. 95-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Gill Rutherford

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

New Zealand ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

School Experiences ◽

Research Literature ◽

Learning Support ◽

Right To Education ◽

Growing Body ◽

Teacher Aides

In this article, Gill Rutherford seeks to understand, from the perspectives of teacher aides, the influence of their work on the school experiences of New Zealand students with disabilities. Rutherford contributes to a growing body of international research regarding the role of teacher aides that documents the complex and ambiguous nature of their work. Ironically, given the injustice of assigning unqualified teacher aides to students whose learning support requirements (through no fault of their own) often challenge teachers, the findings of the study suggest that aides may contribute to the development of a more just education by virtue of their relationships with students with disabilities. Teacher aides' knowing and caring about students in terms of their humanity and competence resulted in their recognizing and addressing injustices experienced by students. In acting on students' behalf, in "doing right by" each student, these aides enabled students to enact their formal right to education. The study findings, interpreted within a framework of relational social justice, add another dimension to what has already been documented in research literature about the paradoxical nature of teacher aides' work.

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Social Motives Predict Loneliness During a Developmental Transition

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000201 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 76 (4) ◽

pp. 145-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jana Nikitin ◽

Alexandra M. Freund

Keyword(s):

Social Relationships ◽

Well Being ◽

Social Avoidance ◽

Social Approach ◽

Social Motives ◽

Developmental Transitions ◽

Avoidance Motivation ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Low Levels

Abstract. Establishing new social relationships is important for mastering developmental transitions in young adulthood. In a 2-year longitudinal study with four measurement occasions (T1: n = 245, T2: n = 96, T3: n = 103, T4: n = 85), we investigated the role of social motives in college students’ mastery of the transition of moving out of the parental home, using loneliness as an indicator of poor adjustment to the transition. Students with strong social approach motivation reported stable and low levels of loneliness. In contrast, students with strong social avoidance motivation reported high levels of loneliness. However, this effect dissipated relatively quickly as most of the young adults adapted to the transition over a period of several weeks. The present study also provides evidence for an interaction between social approach and social avoidance motives: Social approach motives buffered the negative effect on social well-being of social avoidance motives. These results illustrate the importance of social approach and social avoidance motives and their interplay during developmental transitions.

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Psychological Resilience Provides No Independent Protection From Suicidal Risk

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000364 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 130-139 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Danica W. Y. Liu ◽

A. Kate Fairweather-Schmidt ◽

Richard Burns ◽

Rachel M. Roberts ◽

Kaarin J. Anstey

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Well Being ◽

Current Status ◽

Psychological Resilience ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Life Project ◽

Resilience Factors ◽

First Time

Abstract. Background: Little is known about the role of resilience in the likelihood of suicidal ideation (SI) over time. Aims: We examined the association between resilience and SI in a young-adult cohort over 4 years. Our objectives were to determine whether resilience was associated with SI at follow-up or, conversely, whether SI was associated with lowered resilience at follow-up. Method: Participants were selected from the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project from Canberra and Queanbeyan, Australia, aged 28–32 years at the first time point and 32–36 at the second. Multinomial, linear, and binary regression analyses explored the association between resilience and SI over two time points. Models were adjusted for suicidality risk factors. Results: While unadjusted analyses identified associations between resilience and SI, these effects were fully explained by the inclusion of other suicidality risk factors. Conclusion: Despite strong cross-sectional associations, resilience and SI appear to be unrelated in a longitudinal context, once risk/resilience factors are controlled for. As independent indicators of psychological well-being, suicidality and resilience are essential if current status is to be captured. However, the addition of other factors (e.g., support, mastery) makes this association tenuous. Consequently, resilience per se may not be protective of SI.

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Prospective Memory Development Across the Lifespan

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000380 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 162-173 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sascha Zuber ◽

Matthias Kliegel

Keyword(s):

Prospective Memory ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Present Model ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Well Being ◽

The Elderly ◽

Cognitive Factors ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Integrative Framework

Abstract. Prospective Memory (PM; i.e., the ability to remember to perform planned tasks) represents a key proxy of healthy aging, as it relates to older adults’ everyday functioning, autonomy, and personal well-being. The current review illustrates how PM performance develops across the lifespan and how multiple cognitive and non-cognitive factors influence this trajectory. Further, a new, integrative framework is presented, detailing how those processes interplay in retrieving and executing delayed intentions. Specifically, while most previous models have focused on memory processes, the present model focuses on the role of executive functioning in PM and its development across the lifespan. Finally, a practical outlook is presented, suggesting how the current knowledge can be applied in geriatrics and geropsychology to promote healthy aging by maintaining prospective abilities in the elderly.

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