‘I had some additional angel wings’: parents positioned as experts in their children’s education

ABSTRACT

This article provides evidence of the ways in which Family Learning (FL) has offered opportunities for the negotiation of a culturally responsive pedagogy that positions parents as experts. Although our study is small (ten parents and six FL practitioners) its significance lies in its longitudinal perspective and in-depth analysis, which demonstrate that the benefits of learning are dynamic and can transfer across domains (education, family, community) and lead to change in parents’ sense of self and their practices. We find that the approach taken by the FL workers enabled parents to raise their horizons of possibility so that they considered new careers and ways of being. Our symbolic interactionist approach focuses on the opportunity for the negotiation of new identities afforded by these programmes and provides an explanation for their long-term positive consequences. The implications for adult learning for all professionals engaging with parents are the benefits of: forming collaborative relationships between participants and staff; using a ‘funds of knowledge’ pedagogical approach; and developing artifacts that can be shared publically.

KEYWORDS:

• Family learning programmes
• parental engagement
• symbolic interactionist approach
• new ways of being

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gale Macleod

Gale Macleod is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests are young people identified as having disruptive behaviour, and the experiences of students in Higher Education.

Lyn Tett

Lyn Tett is Professor of Community Education at the University of Huddersfield. Her research focuses on adults that have been excluded from education and the action that can be taken to promote social justice.