This chapter was devoted to a variety of programs designed for minorities, including the Kenan model from
the United States, which is no doubt the model that is most often cited, the Manukau Family Literacy
Program (MFLP),which was developed from the Kenan model, as well as the PEFaL model.
Most lf the models aim to show parents how to help their child through activities in academic literacy.
Others are focused on parenting skills. The ultimate goal is to help parents become autonomous so that
they can help their child become autonomous in a manner that promotes his academic success.
Family, literacy programs aimed at minority communities must overcome other challenges. In the United
States, for example, access to the language of learning, which is often the second language in the family,is
an important goal for these programs. It is also important to make resources available and to ensure that
people know how to access them. In the same way, the family literacy programs designed for Francophone
minority communities in Canada attempt to make parents more aware of their language and of the cultural
resources in the language of the minority.
Finally,it must be emphasized that a growing number of participants in family literacy programs in
Ontario come from different cultural contexts, especially in Toronto and Ottawa. The family literacy
program must therefore take into account diverse belief systems, social realities and academic
backgrounds.
Qualitative research on programs targeting immigrant and refugee populations also suggests that these
programs should share explicit information about the dominant cultures and the values of the schools in
the host country, while building on the family's pre-existing literacies as support for the children's success.
These guidelines are relevant to family literacy programs in French in a Francophone minority setting.
The next chapter is devoted to best practices.