Preservice Teachers Engage Parents in At-Home Learning: “We Are in This Together!”

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v16i1.6849

Abstract

During pandemic school closures, preservice teachers designed activity plans to support the at-home learning of children in early elementary grades and recognized parents as vital to supporting their children’s learning. This article uses data from a multiple case study of preservice teachers’ planning during an alternate practicum. Drawing on models of family vibrancy and parent engagement that arise from funds of knowledge and parent knowledge theories, we highlight how preservice teachers included parents in reciprocal and democratic ways that honoured diverse family’s contexts and their knowledge of their children. Results illustrate the importance of asset-oriented, flexible pedagogies that include meaningful parent partnerships both during and beyond the pandemic.

 

Author Biographies

Lori McKee, St. Francis Xavier University

Lori McKee is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada, where she teaches teacher education and graduate courses in early childhood and literacies. Her research interests are located within the field of curriculum studies and focus on intersections of literacies, pedagogies, and teacher professional learning. She is currently a collaborator in an interdisciplinary project entitled Reading Pedagogies of Equity (R-PEP).

Anne Murray-Orr, St. Francis Xavier University

Anne Murray-Orr is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University, teaching B.Ed. and M.Ed. courses in literacies in the elementary grades and working with families and communities in early elementary classrooms. Her current research projects include exploring preservice teachers’ multiliterate identities, middle school teachers’ use of culturally relevant and sustaining literacy practices, and the impacts of graduate programs designed for early elementary teachers.

Evan Throop Robinson, St. Francis Xavier University

Evan Throop Robinson is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. He is a former elementary school teacher and continues to work in the classroom through research activities in mathematics with young children as well as support and supervision for elementary preservice teachers. He collaborates on the Moving Achievement Together Holistically (MATH) project to provide culturally relevant and sustaining learning experiences using verbing and spatial reasoning processes for children from historically excluded communities.

References

Barnes, J. K., Guin, A., Allen, K., & Jolly, C. (2016). Engaging parents in early childhood education: Perspectives of childcare providers. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 44(4), 360–374. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12164

Cooper, A., Timmons, K., & MacGregor, S. (2021). Exploring how Ontario teachers adapted to learn-at-home initiatives during COVID-19: Blending technological and pedagogical expertise in a time of growing inequities. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 15(2), 91–101. https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i2.6726

Develop Nova Scotia. (2019, May). Internet for Nova Scotia initiative. https://internet.developns.ca/files/documents/Develop-Nova-Scotia-INSI-Progress-May2019-Sept14.pdf

Epstein, J. (2011). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools (2nd ed.). Westview Press.

Epstein, J. (2013). Ready or not? Preparing future educators for school, family, and community partnerships. Teaching Education, 24(2), 115–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2013.786887

Epstein, J. (2020). Partnerships keep children learning during COVID-19. Contexts, 19(4), 88–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504220977949

Epstein, J., Sheldon, S., & Chappell, R. (2021). Solving for X: Unknowns and possibilities of school, family, and community partnerships during COVID-19 (Annual Report, National Network of Partnership Schools). Johns Hopkins University. http://nnps.jhucsos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Final-Annual-Rept-COVID-19-Data-Feb-2021-pdf.pdf

Firmanto, A., Sumarsono, P., & Nur, F. (2020). A family-school partnership based learning: An effort to organize early childhood education during pandemic. Proceedings of International Conference on Community Development (ICCD 2020) (pp. 100–103). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201017.023

Frank, L., Fisher, L., & Saulnier, C. (2020). 2020 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Nova Scotia: Willful Neglect? Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/2019-report-card-child-and-family-poverty-nova-scotia

Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (2005). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. In N. Gonzalez, L. C. Moll, & C. Amanti (Eds.), Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities and classrooms (pp. 71–87). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Nagle, J., Barbour, M. K., & LeBonte, R. (2020). Documenting triage: Detailing the response of provinces and territories to emergency remote teaching. The Canadian eLearning Network. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FFme51pa8JW85TAxxMorOZ2DM-bgMBac/view

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (n.d.). Principles of effective family engagement. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/family-engagement/principles

Nova Scotia. (n.d.). Nova Scotia assessments results for students with Aboriginal heritage and students of African descent. Retrieved from https://plans.ednet.ns.ca/sites/default/files/documents/NSA-DisaggregatedResults_0.pdf

Nova Scotia Department of Education and Child Development. (2020). Nova Scotia at-home student learning packages: 1st edition of primary – Grade 9 Nova Scotia at Home learning. https://curriculum.novascotia.ca/archived-2020-saltwire-p-9-learning-packages

Paul, C. A. (2020). The importance of flexibility and family engagement. Teaching Young Children, 13(5), 10–12.

Preston, J. P., MacPhee, M. M., & Roach O’Keefe, A. (2019). Kindergarten teachers’ notions of parent involvement and perceived challenges. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 53(3). https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9592

Pushor, D. (2012). Tracing my research on parent engagement: Working to interrupt the story of school as protectorate. Action in Teacher Education, 34(5–6), 464–479. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2012.729474

Pushor, D. (2013). Bringing into Being a Curriculum of Parents. In D. Pushor & Parent Engagement Collective (Eds.), Portals of promise: Transforming beliefs and practices through a curriculum of parents (pp. 5-19). Sense Publishers.

Pushor, D., & the Parent Engagement Collaborative II. (2015). Living as mapmakers: Charting a course with children guided by parent knowledge. Sense Publishers.

Pushor, D. (2015). Walking alongside: A pedagogy of working with parents and family in Canada. In L. Orland-Barak & C.J. Craig (Eds.), International teacher education: Promising pedagogies (Part B) (pp. 233–251). Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.

Pushor, D. (2017). Familycentric schools: Creating a place for all parents. Education Canada, 57(4), 17. https://www.edcan.ca/articles/familycentric-schools/

Throop Robinson, E., McKee, L., & Murray-Orr, A. (in press). Home-made Mathematics: Teacher candidates inspire hands-on learning at home. In J. Pattnaik and M. Jalongo (Eds.), The impact of COVID-19 on early childhood education and care: International perspectives, challenges, and responses. Springer.

Volma, M. & Gilde, J. (2021). The effects of using students’ funds of knowledge on educational outcomes in the social and personal domain. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 28, 100472, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2020.100472

Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research design and methods (5th ed.). Sage.

Downloads

Published

2022-04-27

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Lori McKee, Anne Murray-Orr, Evan Throop Robinson

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

By virtue of their publication in this open access journal, articles are free to use with proper attribution (to both the author(s) and the Journal of Teaching and Learning) for educational and other non-commercial uses.