Cultural Misperceptions and Goals for Samoan Children’s Education in Hawai’i: Voices from School, Home, and Community |
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| Authors: | Marianna Fischer Valdez Peter W Dowrick Ashley E Maynard |
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| Institution: | (1) Psychology Department, University of Hawaii, 2430 Campus Road, Honolulu, HI, USA;(2) Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA |
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| Abstract: | Research lauds the benefits of parent involvement in the schools, yet many schools and communities have not achieved desired
levels of involvement. Underlying expectations and methods soliciting parent involvement may be rooted in cultural misperceptions.
This study, based on Epstein’s (1987) Overlapping Spheres of Influence model, explored the ways and extent that community
members, school staff, and Samoan families interact regarding a public middle school. Qualitative research methods (interviews
and observations) involved parents, teachers, administrators, and community agency members and officials in participatory
action research. Findings displayed a base of cultural differences regarding parent involvement: Samoan parents were expected
to participate in school events and assist children with homework, yet Samoan culture has historically divided the parents’
responsibilities from the teachers’ responsibilities. Parents identified their responsibilities for children’s spirituality
and discipline and viewed academic matters as solely the responsibility of teachers. The school’s new activities, parents’
shifting focus, and community members’ diverse actions are demonstrating a start of change. This research supports the need
for school personnel to understand the cultural roots of minority families’ parent involvement practices.
Marianna F. Valdez is a Ph.D. Candidate in Community and Cultural Psychology. She completed her M.A. degree at the University
of Hawaii and B.A. degree at Tulane University. Her research interests involve the development, implementation, and evaluation
of culturally appropriate community programs, especially related to the public school setting. She is most interested in understanding
and representing emic perspectives to drive action research, informed by culturalist approaches and mixed methods.
Peter W. Dowrick is Professor of Disability Studies and affiliate graduate faculty in Psychology at the University of Hawaii.
He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Auckland, ATCL at Trinity College London, M.Sc. at the University of Auckland,
and B.Sc. at the Victoria University of Wellington. He has wide experience working with people marginalized by culture, disability,
mental health, and other considerations. His consultation on prevention and intervention extends to 31 states and 21 countries.
His overarching contribution has been in the concepts of feedforward and creating futures, applied in situations of personal
safety, serious mental illness, social behavior, sports and recreation, daily living, literacy, academic skills, health, housing,
management, and jobs, among others.
Ashley E. Maynard is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawaii. She completed her Ph.D.
at the University of California, Los Angeles, M.A. at the University of California, Los Angeles, and B.A. at the University
of Virginia. She studies the interrelationships of culture, contexts of child development, and healthy cognitive and social
development of children. Based on a socio-cultural paradigm, the theoretical question that lies at the heart of her research
program is the ways in which a variety of culturally based activity settings influence adaptive pathways of development for
children and families. She teaches courses in Developmental Psychology and Culture and Human Development. |
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| Keywords: | Parent involvement Education Community Culture Samoa |
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