White Parents' Engagement, Educational Excess, and the Pull Towards Passive Support of the Status Quo

• In Event: Examining the Role of Race and Culture in Schools and Communities

Abstract

This paper draws from a qualitative multi-case study critically examining the school engagement of middle- and upper-middle-class white parents, with the purpose of mapping ways race- and class-diverse school communities can seek more liberatory partnerships with the most advantaged parents. The author relies on three theoretical constructs of critical race theory critique of liberalism, whiteness as property, and interest convergence – along with Robin Wall Kimmerer’s work related to abundance – to further make sense of how white supremacy may operate through politically progressive white parents at school. Findings include three types of orientations to school engagement: compulsive educational excess, passive support of the status quo, and collective educational justice.

Author

• Jennifer L. McCarthy Foubert, North Central College