"My assumptions were wrong": Exploring teachers' constructions of self and biases towards diverse families

Stephanie C Smith,Tina M Smith-Bonahue,Olivia R Soutullo

doi:10.53956/jfde.2014.30

Stephanie C Smith, Tina M Smith-Bonahue + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.53956/jfde.2014.30

Copy DOI

Abstract

Family engagement in young children’s education is widely touted as valuable, but challenging, particularly for teachers in high need, highly diverse schools. Professional development efforts in this area often fall short, in part due to the difficulty inherent in changing teachers’ attitudes and beliefs. This study uses Kegan’s (1982) Constructive Developmental theory as a framework for understanding teachers’ belief changes as the result of course designed to improve family-school engagement.

Highlights

Family-school collaborations are beneficial to both children and families, especially during early childhood (Henderson, Mapp, Johnson, & Davies, 2007), and for children living in poverty (Berliner, 2006; Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov, & Sealand, 1993; Darling-Hammond, 2010; Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 2000)
Involvement is especially beneficial for students living in poverty
Further difficulties arise from cultural and socioeconomic mismatches between teachers and students, because teachers may not recognize the barriers to school engagement that many families face (Bernstein, 1975; Delpit, 2006; Naughton, 2004)

Summary

Introduction

Family-school collaborations are beneficial to both children and families, especially during early childhood (Henderson, Mapp, Johnson, & Davies, 2007), and for children living in poverty (Berliner, 2006; Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov, & Sealand, 1993; Darling-Hammond, 2010; Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Further difficulties arise from cultural and socioeconomic mismatches between teachers and students, because teachers may not recognize the barriers to school engagement that many families face (Bernstein, 1975; Delpit, 2006; Naughton, 2004). In cases such as these, teachers may be even more critical of seemingly uninvolved families for not behaving like the teachers’ own families of origin did in their upbringing. This is of increasing concern in contemporary schooling, as teachers remain overwhelmingly White (Feistritzer, 2011), but non-White students outnumber White students in American schools (Hussar & Bailey, 2014)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion