Histories of Disparate Parental Agency: Toward Preparing Teachers to Implement Asset-Based Pedagogies

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Curriculum and the Culture(s) of Memory, Time, and History

Abstract

This conceptual paper examines persistent themes of White and African American parental agency, comparatively, throughout the development of American schooling, from 1600 to the present. Utilizing historical texts, intersectionality and Critical Race Theory, researcher argues: there is dissonance between the legal definition of citizenship and the ability of parents to exert agency in educational institutions; this consistent historical struggle impacts educational equity and access today. Throughout American history, parents whose identities align closely to Whiteness in a given context have had comparatively high levels of agency to influence the systems that educate their children. These themes must be addressed in teacher education to equip teachers with adequate historical understanding necessary to implement culturally relevant and asset-based pedagogies with integrity.

Author

• Sarah Caroline Murphy, Washington University in St. Louis