Working With Families and Family Center Staff to Build Social and Emotional Learning and Racial Equity Skills

• In Event: Multiple Perspectives on Building a County-Wide Ecosystem of Social and Emotional Learning and Racial Equity

Abstract

Objectives/purposes. Our team has developed a model of elevating family voices in their children’s SEL & Racial Equity learning. In this session we will describe our community of practice model that has been adapted to fit family schedules and encourage engagement. We meet once per week for 4 weeks, and engage in a session together that starts with families and children having separate learning opportunities (about the same SEL practice) and then coming together for an applied opportunity to practice. We begin each week with a trusted community leader reading a racially-affirming picture book and facilitating a conversation about what comes up for families in this book. The discussion is rich, unstructured, and helps families connect to one another. They also have the power in the room as the experts in their children’s learning.

Theoretical framework. This community of practice is based on making a space where families have the power to drive the discussion and be responsive to the questions and issues that arise from the group. Theoretical tenets align closely with the Family Leadership Design Collaborative (familydesigncollab.org; Ishimaru et al, 2023). This model was originally based on “Family & Community Learning workshops; FCLs” shared by our local Public Broadcasting System affiliate (WQED) and we adapted it to elicit specific discussion about racial equity, SEL, and to affirm young Black children’s racial identity. Letting teachers observe and learn about parent strengths (rather than leading the conversation) has helped disrupt schools’ deficit approach to family engagement.

Methods, data, and results. For this paper, ethnographic field notes will serve as the key type of data collected, with a team-analysis for the most salient themes. Notes come from the families-only community of practice sessions, as well as the family-break-out sessions from the larger, county-wide meetings. Three team members will discuss notes after each session for agreement, while maintaining individual notes when agreement cannot be reached. Coders’ focus on deductively examining data for research aims including changes in family’s understanding of SEL over time, key strengths and areas of difficulty in SEL and Racial Equity, and hopes for educator SEL at school.

Scholarly significance and implications. Overall, this paper will share insights in family-based SEL and Racial Equity. The presentation will include examples of real-world scenarios and will freely share materials for a family community of practice model with the audience. Few SEL programs focus on families, and even fewer include racial equity, a key area of concern in this community and others. It is the aim of this session to highlight the key role of families in the future of SEL.

Author

• Rhonda L. Hall, University of Pittsburgh