"The Talking Cure"
"To those who argued that Providence Talks embodied cultural
imperialism, staff members responded that, on the contrary, they were
"empowering" parents with knowledge. Andrea Riquetti, the Providence
Talks director, told me, "It really is our responsibility to let families
know what it takes to succeed in the culture they live in. Which may not
necessarily be the same as the culture they have. But it's their choice whether
they decide to. It's not a case of our saying, 'You have to do this.'"
Riquetti grew up in Quito, Ecuador, came to America at the age of seventeen,
and worked for many years as a kindergarten teacher in Providence schools. In
Latino culture, she said, "the school is seen as being in charge of
teaching children their letters and all that, while parents are in charge of
discipline making sure they listen and they're good and they sit still. Parents
don't tend, overall, to give children a lot of choices and options. It's kind
of like 'I rule the roost so that you can behave and learn at school."'
The Providence Talks approach "is a little more like 'No, your child and
what they have to say is really important.' And having them feel really good
about themselves as opposed to passive about their learning is important,
because that's what's going to help them succeed in this culture."
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