Black Parent Engagement in Texas Public Education: An Ode to Black Parent Linguistic Capital

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Empowering Community and Building Multicultural Future (Table 4)

Abstract

The voices of Black parents are essential to achieving the collective endeavor of holistic student success in public education. This paper reports qualitative findings from focus groups with Black parents in Texas using Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth model. We identified three major themes in Black parent responses: sustaining Black pedagogies of the home, parental advocacy through resistance, and commitment to community. Throughout these findings, linguistic capital functions at the center of Black parent engagement and transcends from the parent onto the student and into the social system of education. Future research can inform the education field to reconceptualize Black parent engagement, particularly around Black parents’ linguistic capital, as a thriving access point towards equity and justice.

Authors

• Melissa Garza, Charles Butt Foundation

• Jessica C Enyioha, Charles Butt Foundation

• Kendra Montejos Edwards, Charles Butt Foundation