Windows Into Families' Homes: Teachers' Deficits-Leaning and Empathy-Expressing Perspectives on Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Sixteen
  In Roundtable Session: Unpacking the Impact of COVID on Family, School, Community Partnerships (Table 8)

Abstract

Using a multi-phase, multi-method participatory action research design, we investigated PK-6 classroom teachers’ assets- versus deficits-based perspectives regarding families’ lived experiences through the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Further, we explored how perspectives of families shaped teachers’ commitments and actions related to family engagement (FE). This presentation will report on our findings of our project’s first interview phase. Findings included teachers’ complex expressions of deficits and empathy; assumptions rooted in class, income, and race; the role of educators’ mental health, systemic and structural conditions, and educators’ self-positioning of themselves in relation to families all influencing their perceptions of and engagement with families.

Authors

• Stephanie L. Dodman, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Colleen Vesely, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Swati Mehta, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Amber Brenae Sansbury, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca L. Brusseau, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Jihyae Choe, George Mason University
  Presenting Author