Organizing Parents for Social Justice in Inner-City Schools: A New Urban Model of Parent Engagement

• In Event: Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: A Tale of Three Cities: Parent Activism and School Reform in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia

Abstract

Overview: Contemporary critical theorists advise school officials and administrators against viewing working class parents of color as devoid of resources and valuable knowledge. Rather, they challenge school leaders to make use of the strengths that poor families of color possess, urging them to develop programs that include two-way communication, mutual responsibility, mutual support activities, and joint-decision making (Delgado-Gaitan, 1991; Gandara, 1989; Merz & Furman, 1997). These theorists believe that parent-initiated groups can empower and support parents in their efforts to impact the school. This symposium features the critical voices of parent advocates who have learned to use critical research as a tool to promote bottom up accountability in urban schools. Drawing upon a data set that includes: observations, interviews, surveys, and examples of parent produced research and assessment tools; this paper discusses the impact for the parents moving from advocates to critical researchers, the challenges and potential of organizing and educating other parents to become critical researchers, the learning spaces and conditions needed to promote critical parent learning, and the policy implications for school leaders when working class parents of color assume shared responsibility in holding schools accountable for educational quality.

Conceptual Framework
The struggle to create alternative spaces means a radical change in relationships and identities between school administrators and community members. It is essential for parents to understand the causes of school failure to construct new strategies in order to contribute effectively towards school change. Parents need a space in the school culture that nurtures critical learning. By critical learning we mean learning that supports the development of new identities for revolutionary changes in the schooling (McLaren, 1994). These sites represent transformation of power and resistance of the school community and parents. Critical research is intended to engage and benefit those who are marginalized in society. Along these lines, critical research can best be understood in the context of the empowerment of individuals (McLaren, 1994).

Data/Methods
The parents and other partnering participants in the symposium draw upon a variety of data sources to discuss the implications of parents learning to become critical researchers. One set of data comes from the research conducted by the parents. This data includes: surveys, observation checklists, interviews, focus groups, and field notes. A second set of data includes the parents’ reflections–research memos, e-mail communications, journal responses, and the reports. A third set of data comes from documentation of the parents’ work. An ethnographic researcher worked with the parents throughout a university-led seminar, collecting field notes, artifacts, and video-taping the parent work. This researcher also has conducted interviews with the parents.

Significance
This paper is about the power of parent researchers to reframe the public dialogue around parent involvement and the tools necessary for schools and communities to include parents and families as democratic participants.

Author

• Mary Johnson, Pepperdine University