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PREPARATION OF SCHOOL LEADERS
Preparing School Leaders to Build and Sustain Engagement
with Families and Communities
Katharine Shepherd, Susan Hasazi, and Judith AikenINTRODUCTION
The preparation of school leaders has, over the years, addressed the need for principals to
involve parents in students' educational experiences (Epstein, 1991; 1995; 2003). Purported
benefits of increased parent involvement included improved student outcomes and more
positive relationships between parents and schools. Critics of traditional approaches to parent
involvement have, however, identified the ways in which a majority of schools have defined
parent involvement in limited ways that have tended to focus on parents from middle-class or
advantaged backgrounds (Capper, 1996; de Carvalho, 2001; Lopez, Scribner, &
Mahitivanichcha, 2001). They point out that activities typically associated with parent
involvement—including fundraising for athletics, music, and drama; help with increasing
amounts of homework; and active volunteerism in extra curricular activities—are more likely
to be accessed by parents with ample time and resources, as well as the power and cultural
capital that allow them to be a part of the “social network” of schooling and the school
community (de Carvalho, 2001).
With increasing attention to the needs of families from diverse backgrounds and the call
to re-define schools in the context of a social justice framework (Dantley, 2002; Pounder,
Reitzug & Young, 2002; Riester, Pursch, Skrla, 2002; Riehl, 2000), there is a concurrent need
to re-consider how we define the connections between families and schools. While it is
beyond the scope of this chapter to fully define social justice, our focus is on the ways in
which school leaders need to acknowledge the increasing diversity in our schools and
recognize social justice as both a means and an end to bringing about greater equity and
opportunity for students and families who have been de-valued on the basis of ability, race,
language, poverty, gender, and sexual orientation (Brown, 2004; Pounder et al., 2002; Riester
et al., 2002). In the context of families, school leaders have the unique responsibility to lead
in ways that create “community centered” (Larson & Murtadha, 2002, p. 148) and family
inclusive schools. In this new framework, leaders need to think about how to provide
substantive opportunities for families and community members to engage in important
decisions that impact student learning and achievement and the culture and curriculum of the
school. It is a commitment to partner with parents and families in ways that expand their
traditional roles and incorporate them as valued players in the school system. In many ways, it
means inviting parents and families to help shape the organization of the school and
developing policies and processes to support family engagement. (^)
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Katharine Shepherd, University of Vermont,
Susan Hasazi, University of Vermont
Judith Aiken, University of Vermont