Interpreting The Family Engagement Core Competencies through a Social Justice Lens

• In Event: Preparation for Equitable Family and Community Engagement That Leads to Culturally Responsive/Sustaining Pedagogy

Abstract

Objectives & Theoretical Perspectives
For pre-service teachers, developing strong competencies in family and community engagement is essential to fostering meaningful partnerships with diverse families that positively impacts student success (Mancenido & Pello, 2020). Yet, research consistently shows that pre-service teachers have few opportunities to learn and practice this important aspect of their work (Authors, 2021). More dire, when they are exposed to family and community engagement ideas and topics, the content is often, siloed, and limited in deficit-based practices that seek to “fix” and “do for” families, rather than co-constructed and asset-based and rooted in trust and reciprocity.
To fill this gap The National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE, 2022) released the Family Engagement Core Competencies (FECC), a robust compendium of the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and practices, that pre-service teachers develop to engage families meaningfully and equitably. Feedback from the field on these standards, while positive, suggested a need for deeper understanding and examples of the competencies in action, particularly from a social justice lens. The objective of the paper is to present findings from focus groups designed to address this question.
Methods & Data Sources
Over a two-month period, the authors conducted a series of five adapted cognitive focus group interviews with 10 family-facing professionals across the nation. Each interview session was designed so that family-facing professionals could give feedback on and tell stories about practices associated with each of the 8 areas of the FECC existing across four main domains: reflect, connect, collaborate and lead alongside families. Participants were also asked to share how they thought pre-service teachers might develop these competencies. Themes emerging from these interviews were analyzed using inductive, open-coding procedures (LaRossa, 2005).
Results
Four main initial themes emerged. First, reflection is multi-dimensional and requires opportunities to look inward as well as outward to come to understand families through multiple methods. Second, connecting with families requires trust, and as many participants suggested, “keeping your word”. Third, co-creating with and leading alongside families requires a willingness to move beyond structures that schools often create. Fourth, participants believed that pre-service teachers could only learn these skills in partnership and close collaboration with families, not in the confines of a classroom.
Significance
High-quality teachers engage families and communities. This paper highlights the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that pre-service teachers can develop to do this work well. Findings will be discussed in relation to reimagining how educators are prepared for family and community engagement, especially in light of growing political divisions within our society and the need to grow and diversity the teaching workforce.

Authors

• Margaret Caspe, National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement

• Reyna P. Hernandez, National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement