Moments of Congruency: Shared Literacy Sponsorship and Latina Mothers' Learning in Programmatic Family Literacy

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: Family-School-Community Partnerships Poster Session

Abstract

Family literacy programs often employ deficit orientations toward minoritized families; still, parents view these programs as language-learning resources. This ethnography explores the experiences of Latina mothers in a school-based family literacy program to understand what sustained their involvement. Utilizing Brandt’s literacy sponsorship framework, it suggests that the program personnel somewhat shared the mothers’ literacy sponsorship (enriched livelihoods and spending time with children) and provided learning experiences in support of their goals. Despite variations in other perspectives and goals, each had similar stakes in participating in the program. This agreement illuminated how the program was responsive to mothers’ goals, despite its deficit lens, and suggests a vantage point for developing more culturally congruent family literacy programs.

Author

• Jennifer Stacy, California State University - Dominguez Hills