Including Families and Communities in Urban Education (Hc)

A volume in Issues in Urban EducationSeries Editors Denise E. Armstrong Brock University and Brenda J. McMahon Florida State UniversityThis book is intended to examine in depth the issues surrounding family and community involvement initially presentedin the book Inclusion in Urban Educational Environments: Addressing Issues of Diversity Equity and Social Justice. Itcontributes to the ongoing conversations in academia as well as in the profession around effectively engaging all familiesin their children's education and building relationships with diverse community members around common educationalgoals. The book seeks to address issues related to structure culture and the agency of individuals and educational organizations.Structure refers to the external forces that impose upon and attempt to define social action particularly the institutionalarrangements that schools families and communities have traditionally held in relationship to each other and to the districtstate and federal government. Education is tied system of class relations that structures racism classism and sexismin response to the desire of dominant groups to preserve their privilege and power. The consequence is the economic positionof low-income ethnic minority students the population that we find most frequently in urban schools is merely reproduced. Students and families from these backgroundsoften feel alienated and marginalized and thus unable to engage actively with schools that are viewed as representing the interests of the white middle class.Understanding the success and failures of school family and community partnerships also demands an examination of the cultural factors that are involved. By lookingat culture both that of the school and the community we gain a better understanding of how the ideologies beliefs and values held by the various constituents give riseto ideological conflicts that may impede collaborations. Partnerships are driven by the individual actions or agency of those involved. This collection demonstrates howactions or agency are tied to structural and cultural factors including racial ethnic class linguistic and gendered positions.Through the contributions of a team of authors who examine family and community involvement in education a compelling argument is made for the need to attend toissues of structure culture and agency. Typically applied to school reform and change issues this framework adds a new perspective to the family and communityinvolvement literature and may help to explain why strong family-school-community partnerships are not more widespread despite the abundance of literature thatdetails the benefits of partnering for students school personnel and their partners. By looking at the structures in the schools districts and broader community that impactfamily and community involvement the organizational cultures that support or limit their involvement and the ability for students their families the community membersand school personnel to make a difference in education the book not only demonstrates the importance of these elements but how they work together or againsteach other. Most importantly the book illustrates how authentic partnerships - characterized by respectful two-waycommunication that leads to shared goals and mutually beneficial relationships - can be created and maintained.