White educators working with Black parents: Resistance and trust

Abstract

When parents push back against educators’ comments or recommendations about their children, those parents may actually be reacting to a long history of negative interactions with schools. This is especially true when Black parents are interacting with white educators. Research has shown that teachers, who are predominately white, tend to communicate differently with parents of color than they do with white parents. Too often, the relationships between educators and parents become characterized by mistrust, rather than the kind of collaboration that can support students. Psychologist Pamela Brown offers suggestions for how educators can learn to trust parents of color and become more trust-worthy partners with parents.