"They Come From Chaos": A Critical Look at a Head Start Teacher's Stories About Families

• In Event: 49.062 - Family–School Partnerships: Critical Perspectives

Abstract

Looking at the stories a teacher tells about the families she works with can provide insight into how a teacher perceives families’ lived experiences and how she understands her role in home-school relationships. This paper explores a Head Start teacher’s perceptions of families, the stories that seem the most salient to those perceptions, and how the stories she chooses to tell shape her approach to home-school relationships. The teacher’s stories are looked at critically, showing how a teacher can tell multiple stories that create a single storyline about families living in poverty, impacting how she constructs her identity as a Head Start teacher.

Author

• Kristin Lyn Whyte, Northwestern University