Re-imagining family engagement as a two-way street

Abstract

The calls for family-school partnerships have been strong within the literature and educational policy within Australia, however, there is little research that demonstrates what such partnerships might look like. Much of the research demonstrates a one-way street approach where schools focus on educating families, particularly parents, to build their alignment with the already defined direction of the school. This paper draws from cultural models theory to explore the artefacts and practices within the figured worlds of two South Australian primary schools. It focuses on the sites’ re-imagining of family engagement as part of their participation in the South Australian Collaborative Childhood Project, inspired by the educational principles of the Reggio Emilia Project in Italy. This paper argues that an early childhood perspective on family engagement provides valuable insights in re-imagining practices and artefacts to support authentic family-school partnerships in primary schools.