by Pedro Bermudez, Raquel Munarriz Diaz, and Ana Pizano
Our Learning Experience during the Winter Meeting 2013 focused on engaging Latino families in the education of their children. The title of our session was Cultivando Comunidades de 
Aprendizaje: Building Learning Communities to Engage Latino Parents in Schools. “Cultivando” in Spanish refers to “growing” in the agricultural sense, and refers to the need to nurture relationships with parents on an ongoing basis to create authentic engagement in school settings.
The session was co-facilitated by a group of educators who have been supporting learning communities in early childhood programs and elementary schools in Miami. The session was conducted in Spanish. It was designed primarily for Spanish speakers who work in schools that serve Latino students from families who may not yet be able to communicate effectively in English.
Participants experienced a variety of protocol-assisted conversations as a way of modeling how educators can engage Latino parents in meaningful dialogue in their native language. These conversations were focused on growing and sustaining relationships to support student learning. The agenda included the use of SRI protocols and VIPP (Visualisation in Participatory Programmes) tools. VIPP employs non-verbal and visualization strategies to promote inclusivity and increase individual participation without relying as much on written or oral language. The combination of SRI and VIPP approaches allowed participants from diverse language and cultural backgrounds to present and exchange ideas with each other effectively. Some guiding questions for the session were: 
How do we foster meaningful and sustained family engagement in schools that serve the Latino Community in a culturally relevant and respectful way? How can we grow and sustain a culture of collaboration between schools and Latino parents? What wisdom might we gain from the Latino community that will help us better support Latino students?
Participants who spoke Spanish as a second language felt the session gave them an opportunity to engage fully, and valued the use of visualized presentations and activities. They also appreciated the opportunity to be fully immersed in conversations that were conducted in Spanish and expressed how this session allowed them to experience and gain insight regarding the communication challenges experienced by Latino and other non-English speaking parents in schools.
Throughout the session, participants were encouraged to consider how the use of these strategies can transform family and community engagement events into productive and empowering experiences for Latino parents. They expressed that the protocols and tools used during the session were highly engaging. Finally, they identified opportunities to employ these strategies in their own work contexts and expressed that they planned to use them not only to engage the families of the children they work with, but also the diverse staff in their programs.
Names of Facilitator(s)/Presenters: Pedro Bermudez, Professional Development Support Specialist, University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning lastingercenter.com, pbermudez@childreadiness.org; Raquel Munarriz Diaz, Professor in Residence, College of Education of the University of Florida, education.ufl.edu/, raquelmdiaz@coe.ufl.edu; Ana Pizano, Curriculum and Special Projects Director, Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe, elcmdm.org, acpizano@gmail.com.
