“Am I the Only One Struggling to Communicate with the School?”

If You’ve Ever Felt This Way, Join a YRDSB Chinese Parent/Student Focus Group and Share Your Voice

In multicultural schools, Chinese parents bring distinct educational perspectives and needs around curriculum content, language support, and access to resources. Yet their voices often go unheard. Some parents may also face language barriers and other life pressures. In addition, limited cultural awareness among some educators and persistent stereotypes about East Asian parents and students can further hinder effective communication between families and schools.

Communication between families and schools is crucial to a child’s development. Many Chinese parents struggle to engage with teachers due to cultural differences or unfamiliarity with the school system. These challenges can cause parents to miss key information during critical times – such as course selection, post-secondary planning, mental health support, or addressing bullying and adolescent issues. Through focus group interviews with Chinese parents and students, as well as individual interviews with educators in YRDSB, this study seeks to amplify the voices of Chinese parents and students, improve parent-school engagement, and create a more inclusive environment where every child can thrive.

Eligible participants include:

• Chinese parents with children who are either currently enrolled in YRDSB or graduated within the past five years

• Students aged 16 or older who are either currently attending or have graduated from YRDSB within the past two years

This project has been reviewed and approved by the Community Research Ethics Board. If you feel you have not been treated according to the descriptions in our information, or your rights as a participant in research have been violated during the course of this project, you may contact the Chair, Community Research Ethics Board, at: Community Research Ethics Office (Canada) Corp. c/o Centre for Community Based Research, 190 Westmount Road North, Waterloo ON N2L 3G5; Email: creo@communitybasedresearch.ca Telephone: 1-888-411- 2736.

If you are interested in participating or would like more information, please sign up here. A member of the research team will be contacting you soon. If you have any questions, you can also contact us by email: research@cpac-canada.ca.

Thank you for your interest in this important undertaking. By participating, you will be making a valuable contribution to positive changes within your school community and beyond.