Family and Community Engagement - the dreaded genetics and family assignments - ARGH!

As teachers, we would never intend to alienate, re-traumatize, or cause anxiety in students or their family. right?

So why do we continue to assign the dreaded family tree or the genetics projects?

How do students feel if they want privacy, are traumatized by family abuse, don't know about, or are uncertain about their family make-up and personal genealogy? Is it fair to assign them to share their very private, sometimes traumatic, and often complex "chosen" or "birth" family relationships? What if there is a history of family violence? How about a child who is living in a shelter, hidden from a abusive family member, or worse, lost a family member at the hands of another family member? What about a student whose mom or dad left the family? What about a child who has never met her dad or mom? What about terms like "mom", "aunt" or "uncle" that are used to describe close friends or extended family in a variety of cultures or families? What about a child who learns later in life that he/she is adopted and the family tree created with the adopted parent now seems like a lie? How many of us have had deep dark family secrets come to light with the new DNA and family ancestry technology advances or worse, in the middle of a genetics lesson in class? Worse, we ask students to present these finding or relationships orally. Ever wonder why students may be absent that day or have a stomach ache?

It's nobody's business! That's what I have to say! I will never assign one of these projects in my classroom and I implore others to please do the same. If it's not in the standards please don't do it, and if it is, post ideas for learning and assignments that don't traumatize students and respect family privacy.

When we know better, we can do better. So...what is the purpose of that dreaded assignment? Is it necessary? If not, can we toss it out of the window along with many other practices that are not culturally-sensitive and potentially damaging or alienating to students and their families.

“My 15-year-old daughter has done these projects for years, but only lately have they hit her hard.”

Challenge: How do you help students meet standards by designing anti-biased culturally relevant community-focused learning experiences?

Here are ideas on how to modify it, but honestly, why? Even with modifications, it's sharing very personal information. If you wouldn't post a child's personal family information the school's web page, why would you post it the school hallway for all other students to see or parents and community to see it at Open House? I probably shouldn't even list these modifications. Use this criteria for any assignment that discusses students home-life.









Family assignments must be envisioned and explained in a culturally sensitive manner. A seemingly harmless activity, such as creating a family tree, can marginalize students whose biological relations are distant or unknown. Such assignments can be modified to recognize the key relationships in students’ lives. [Teaching Tolerance]





Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act -