Citation

Yull D, Wilson M, Murray C, Parham L. Sch. Commun. J. 2018; 28(1): 319-348.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Academic Development Institute)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Parents' involvement in their children's education is widely understood as a key component of educational success. However, schools typically expect parents to engage with the school system in ways consistent with White, middle-class parenting and behavioral norms and in ways that are deferential to the school's agenda. In this article, we report on findings from a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) project--the Parent Mentor Program--in a racially and economically diverse small city in Central New York. The project uses a race- and class-conscious framework to (1) understand barriers to the involvement of parents of color, and (2) reframe parents' role in the school system as advocates whose primary purpose is to bridge cultural disconnects between White teachers and students of color. Drawing upon ethnographic methods of focus groups, interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, we argue that the Parent Mentor Program, in which marginalized parents of color assist in high school classrooms, increases the engagement of parents of color in the school system, produces a close-knit community that reduces parental isolation and that fosters a collective understanding of shared experiences of injustice, and positions parents of color as empowered advocates who work collaboratively with White teachers to promote educational equity for children of color.

Key Words: parent involvement, racial injustice, school discipline, parents of color, African American, Latina, Latino, families, Parent Mentor Program

Language: en