Organizational conditions as mediators of equity-focused family engagement

• In Event: Organizing for Equity and Inclusion: Innovative Theorizing Across the P-20 Educational Ecosystem

Abstract

Researchers often associate teachers’ ability or willingness to engage with families in ways that support equity with their relevant prior knowledge or experiences. However, emerging research and theory also point to organizational conditions as a potential mediator of teachers’ equity-focused family engagement practices. This study draws on the theory of Inhabited Institutionalism to investigate organizational conditions that promote or detract from teachers’ use of equity ideals in their family engagement. Emerging findings suggest that concurrent initiatives, a collegial professional culture, and high-quality collaboration time influence teachers’ family engagement practices by legitimizing equity-focused myths and providing teachers with structured interactions that help them inhabit those myths.

Author

• Jennifer Gaul, University of Washington