ERIC Number: EJ1323068
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1059-308X
EISSN: N/A
From School Exclusion to Provisional Access: Possibilities and Limitations of a Critical Class-Conscious Parent Engagement Program in Rural Upstate New York
Wilson, Marguerite Anne Fillion; Robinson-Perez, Ada; Yull, Denise Gray
School Community Journal, v31 n2 p293-323 2021
Parent engagement is typically understood as parent attendance at school functions or volunteering; however, these spaces are often defined by the behavioral norms of White middle-class parents. Using social class, moral capital, and Critical Whiteness Studies as theoretical frameworks, this article qualitatively examines the implementation of a class-conscious parent engagement strategy--the Parent Mentor Program--in a rural, predominantly White school district. Based on 42 focus groups with six low-income White parents who participated as Parent Mentors, we argue that, through the process of engaging with the program, these parents began to form community and access some parts of the institution. Although these parents demonstrated their commitment to being active contributors to the school community as classroom volunteers, authentic acceptance remained provisional. We argue that the continued disparaging treatment of these parents is connected to the fact that they do not perform whiteness in an acceptable (i.e., middle-class) manner. Because they lack a discourse of systemic oppression, we analyze the parents' discourse with a theoretical lens that explains how moral capital, individual access, and meritocracy is applied to their tenuous access to privilege. These individualistic discourses--hallmarks of whiteness mostly devoid of class critique--prevent the program from developing into a larger activist strategy to transform the school culture.
Descriptors: Low Income Groups, Parent Participation, Rural Schools, Whites, Social Bias, Social Class, Volunteers, Poverty, Barriers, Social Isolation, Parent Attitudes, Educational Environment, Inclusion, Moral Values
Academic Development Institute. 121 North Kickapoo Street, Lincoln, IL 62656. Tel: 1-800-759-1495; Web site: http://www.schoolcommunitynetwork.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A