Third Parties in Home-School Connections: Learning from Conversations with Nondominant Families Crossing Cultures

Elena Lyutykh,Martha J Strickland,Lyn Fasoli,Beatrice Adera

doi:10.53956/jfde.2016.84

Abstract

Guided by a networked model of Ecological Systems Theory, this qualitative study listened to nondominant families who had crossed cultures and sent children to schools in cultural contexts different from those of the parents’ upbringing. Researchers looked at the mesosystemic interactions between the microsystems of the family and the microsystems of the school through the eyes of the families in order to capture “third parties” and common patterns of social relations and interactions that families engaged in around school. Families insisted on keeping home and school settings separate and revealed complex social networks that mediated families’ thinking about school and motivated alternative conceptions of their involvement in their children’s education. Implications are discussed.

Highlights

Guided by a networked model of Ecological Systems Theory, this qualitative study listened to nondominant families who had crossed cultures and sent children to schools in cultural contexts different from those of the parents’ upbringing
When seeking to understand the content and organization of the school-family mesosystem, the researchers “allowed ecological systems to emerge from the data rather than to be defined in advance based on a priori assumptions” (Neal & Neal, 2013, p.735)
As more families cross cultures, attention to understanding the families’ networks offers schools the potential to inform new ways to approach home-school relationships with these families. This requires looking beyond the family’s immediate microsystem to the third-party interactions within their networked ecological systems (Neal & Neal, 2013). These connections need further exploration to identify those functions for which families are seeking input and support from the school and those they would prefer to manage independently, away from school

Summary

Introduction

Guided by a networked model of Ecological Systems Theory, this qualitative study listened to nondominant families who had crossed cultures and sent children to schools in cultural contexts different from those of the parents’ upbringing. There has been a relatively strong pipeline of studies on educational issues and achievement of children in schools within a context different from their parents’ cultural experiences that seek to enhance cultural understandings and foster respect for diversity in schools (McCarthey, 2000; Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch, Greenfield, & Quiroz, 2001; Valdez, 1996). These studies typically conclude with suggested strategies for schools or teachers to employ. As Baquedano-López, Alexander, & Hernandez (2013) note, studies of home-school partnerships either gloss over important contextual differences by staying within color-blind models of parental involvement, or in the quest for promoting respect for diversity, they underscore ethnic and cultural differences to the point of further alienating the very populations school communities wish to engage

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion