Beyond the Member Check: How Collaborative Ethnography Expands Theories and Practices of Family Engagement

• In Event: Supporting Families, Groups, and Communities in Qualitative Research

Abstract

This paper positions collaborative ethnography as a productive methodology to interrogate the deficit-aligned practices of teacher participants and researchers, particularly when white, English-speaking teachers and researchers engage with new immigrant, Latinx, emergent bilingual families. Using evidence from a two-year ethnography, a 2nd grade teacher and novice ethnographer share how collaborative ethnography and iterative dialogue and praxis resulted in changes in our theories and actions around family engagement, and our positioning of each other. We also discuss how collaborative ethnography necessitated the researcher to move beyond member checking to surfacing and interrogating tensions with the teacher. This process allowed us to move toward reflective, polylithic, asset-aligned perspectives of each other and the families we work with.

Authors

• Michelle N. Brown, The Pennsylvania State University

• Lori Zimmerman, Arthur St. Elementary School