BUILD A VILLAGE: CULTIVATING PRODUCTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN PARENTS FOR INCREASED FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

When parents and teachers work collaboratively, student outcomes improve. To ensure that African-American parents feel welcome in the school setting, schools must consider the cultural differences that can sometimes prevent successful partnerships. This qualitative participatory action research study was informed by activist research and community learning exchange (CLE) methodology and protocols. In collaboration with a team of co-practitioner researchers (CPR) composed of three teachers, one school psychologist, and one principal, the goal was to examine the extent to which teachers cultivated productive relationships with African-American parents. Over the PAR project and study, teachers and African-American parents shared experiences and ideas to examine current practices and inform strategies to cultivate partnerships. As a result of three cycles of inquiry, the findings indicate: (1) When there is a lack of cultural understanding, partnerships between African-American parents and teachers are negatively impacted, and (2) when there is mutual communication-places and spaces to talk-African-American parents and teachers are better positioned to partner. In practice contexts, there is a need to create inclusive school communities that support the capacity of teachers to build productive relationships with African-American parents. In the research context, these findings complement other research about the creation of culturally responsive school communities (Nieto, 1999) and the need to address systemic cultural barriers to African-American parent involvement (Lareau, 1996). These emerged as critical components to improving the capacity to develop partnerships between African-American parents and teachers.