Engaging frustrated parents: Utilizing stakeholder teams to collectively deconstruct controversial issues in K-12

ABSTRACT

Arguably, K-12 schools are caught in the crossfire of a political divide in this country. This division is evidenced through examples of parent frustration toward school leaders’ attempts (or lack thereof) to address important topics like racism in schools. Although the democratic ideal promotes student exposure to differing viewpoints in order to become well-informed adults, school leaders are becoming more hesitant to broach controversial topics in schools. We believe this is more about parent perspectives being valued and less about a blatant resistance of childrens’ exposure to opposing viewpoints. To that end, we propose a crisis management model, framed through a social-emotional learning (SEL) lens, for school leaders to engage parents in collectively deconstructing controversial issues. First, we establishe how crisis management, through a SEL lens, can be used to address controversial issues in schools. Second, we apply this rationale to deconstructing racism in K-12. Through the use of stakeholder teams, we believe parents with differing viewpoints can be heard, find common ground, and learn to see the value of students’ exposure to controversial issues.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional Resources

Love, B. L. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press.

This book underscores the importance of students engaging in conversations about racial violence, oppression, and how to bring about sustainable change in their own communities. It provides a foundation for parents and educators to have discussions about addressing racism in the K-12 environment.

Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to be an antiracist. One World.

This book frames racism as structural and focuses attention on policies instead of individuals. Written in a memoir approach, the author gives his readers examples from his own walk and compels individuals to actively choose to be antiracist.

Khalifa, M. (2018). Culturally responsive school leadership. Harvard Education Press.

This text focuses on how school leaders can better serve all students, but especially minoritized students. Important to the context of this manuscript, it demonstrates how parents can support the work of honoring cultural differences in the K-12 environment.