Self-reflection is also useful for addressing cultural differences. Finally, this method helps prospective teachers uncover any negative feelings and assumptions that they might have which may inhibit them from building positive relationships between home and school. Assignments for Self-Reflection When discussing social development, prospective teachers in one program reflect on their own social development and on the ways in which their teachers influenced them. This introspection helps prospective teachers examine their own beliefs and learn how these beliefs might influence their future work with families. In one program, prospective teachers are asked to look at their own cultural experiences and history, think about the match between their family community culture and their school culture, and then discuss ways in which some children's home and school cultures differ.
Interprofessional education is a new trend in preparing human service professionals.
Schools of nursing, social work, and other disciplines join with schools of education to prepare teachers and other professionals working with children and families. The purpose of this strategy is to train a range of human service professionals to work more closely with one another, to work in an increasingly collaborative environment, and to deliver services more effectively to families by placing them at the center of the human service system. One program unites a school of education and an anthropology department to find new ways of working with families. Another program brings teachers, administrators, and counselors together in an intensive family involvement training experience. Comprehensive interprofessional training programs have the potential to prepare teachers and other human service professionals to work effectively with families.