Family background

• Whom do my students live with?
• What kinds of family responsibilities do my students have?
• What are the lines of authority in my students’ families?
• What are parents’ beliefs about their involvement in school and in their children’s school work? Do they think teachers are experts and therefore avoid disagreeing with me?
• Did parents have positive experiences in their own schooling or did they feel alienated from school and thus may be wary of trusting me?
• What languages are spoken in my students’ homes?
• How long have my students lived in their current homes? Which of my students have recently moved? From where? Why did the family move?

Educational background

• If students are new to the country, how many years of schooling have they had? In what kind of setting--rural, urban or suburban?
• What kinds of instructional strategies are my students used to?
• In students’ former schools, what kinds of behaviors were considered appropriate?
• Were students expected to be active or passive, independent or dependent, cooperative or competitive?
• What about their former schools was positive for my students? What was negative?

Student characteristics

• How do students think about time? Are they expected to be punctual or is time viewed flexibly?
• Do students nod their heads to be polite or to indicate understanding?
• Do students question or obey authority?
• Do students expect their own needs and desires to be met at all times or do they put those of the group ahead of their own?
• Do students express their emotions and feelings openly or do they keep them hidden?
• How do students interact with their peers? Do they tend to be expressive with their peers? Do they interact exclusively with students of their same cultural backgrounds?