Co-investigation and co-education in ‘family as faculty’ approaches: A repositioning of power

ABSTRACT

Family as Faculty (FAF) approaches originate from family-centered healthcare models and have been adapted in special education teacher education programs to positively influence and impact pre-service special education teachers’ dispositional understandings of working and collaborating with parents/families. However, the majority of research centered on these approaches fails to address issues of equity, specifically uneven power relationships between teachers and families. This paper expands upon FAF approaches by integrating conceptual framings linked directly to critical pedagogy, such as co-investigation and co-education, as integral components in addressing power relations between future special education teachers and multiply marginalized families of children with disabilities. Deliberate repositioning of parents/families as co-investigators/co-educators within research and teacher education programs targets uneven power dynamics to further assist future teachers in critical self-reflection of their own power and privilege in relation to the students and families with whom they will work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional resources

1. Chávez-Reyes, C. (2010). Inclusive approaches to parent engagement for young English Language Learners and their families. National Society for the Study of Education, 109(2), 474 - 504.

In this article, the author describes “inclusive approaches” that are centered as tangible ways to accept and value students’ home languages and cultures as contributive to transformational change in schools. Young emergent bi- or multi-linguals’ and their families’ knowledge is positioned favorably, rather than as liability, in collaborative home-school relationships. Four specific characteristics (accept and value, acknowledge, focus, and empower) are highlighted and expanded upon as approaches to promote inclusive parent-family engagement.

2. Fennimore, B. S. (2017). Permission not required: The power of parents to disrupt educational hypocrisy. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 159–181. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16687974

This review of literature focuses on the experiences of historically minoritized or nondominant families who resist inequitable school practices that marginalize their children. The author unearths the ways in which these families struggle against current hegemonic structures, institutions and paradigms to fight for theirs and their children’s rights to fair practices. Finally, the author calls for an increase in observer-activist-participant research paradigms that, when honed, can be used as tools to disrupt uneven power relations that reproduce inequity.

3. Young-Chan, H., & Love, J. (2015). Stages of immigrant parent involvement – survivors to leaders. Immigration & Education, 97(4), 21 – 25.

In this article, the authors describe a new parent involvement model called “Stages of Immigrant Parent Involvement” that takes into consideration the global experiences of U.S. immigrants. This model centers immigrant families’ needs, interests, and skills through evolving stages (Cultural Survivor, Cultural Learner, Cultural Connector, and Cultural Leader) that assist educators working with immigrant families to better identify and assist families’ unique challenges. The ultimate goal of this model is for immigrant family members to empower themselves, become leaders in their communities, and to assist other families who are experiencing similar struggles.