Families Engaging Their Knowledges and Epistemologies in Service of Community

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Families as Social Context

Abstract

This research examines community leadership practices and behaviors that center community needs, experiences, and knowledge. Applying decoloniality as a framework, we situate and analyze the educational work of Latino and Somali parents and caregivers. We use critical ethnography and intersectional methodology to engage with non-Western conceptions of leadership in community spaces in two different research sites. We draw examples from these families' actions, which reflect epistemologies of leadership in the Global South. Expanding notions of leadership practice, this paper provides recommendations for educators to acknowledge the identities of diverse communities and serve them effectively.

Authors

• Elizabeth Gil, Fordham University

• Nimo Abdi, The Ohio State University