Bridging the Gap: Immigrant Parents Book Club Toolkit

Jiyeong I, Constance Beecher, Kunhui (Connie) Kim

It is well known that children from immigrant families “encounter assimilative policies and practices that are premised on deficit perspectives of immigrant cultures and languages” (Lee & Walsh, 2017, p. 191). Many scholars (e.g., Paris, 2012, Ladson-Billing, 2009) emphasized the importance of supporting culturally and linguistically diverse students so they can sustain their cultures and languages. Since parents are the main Heritage culture provider for immigrant children, how much immigrant children can communicate with their parents may influence their construction of cultural identities. However, the first-generation parents of immigrant youth have difficulty accessing and understanding second-generation children’s experience in or out of USA schools due to language barriers and cultural differences. Responding to this demand, we suggest organizing a parent book club to provide immigrant parents with an opportunity to learn about the experiences and challenges their children encounter outside their home.