146 PREPARATION OF SCHOOL LEADERS
Our framework for looking at connections with families and communities through a social
justice lens is influenced by a number of scholars who have considered issues such as
understanding the role of moral leadership (Sergiovanni, 1992; Starrat, 1999), multicultural
education (McKenzie & Scheurich, 2004), instructional leadership (Blase & Blase, 1999a;
Southworth, 2002), democratic discourse (Rusch, 1998), community engagement (Dryfoos &
Maguire, 2002), and strategies for building shared understandings of inclusive school cultures
(Riehl, 2000). In essence, social justice leaders as those committed to serving the common
good, giving voice to multiple perspectives and people in decision-making, engaging in
actions that foster inclusive cultures, and working toward policies and practices that promote
social equity. These social justice leaders are willing to share decision-making and authority
with members of the community. We see such leaders as orientated toward a vision for
engaging families and parents with dignity and respect.. Many social justice theorists argue
that if schools are going to improve opportunities for learning for all students, the
“relationship between school leaders and the communities they serve must change” (Larson &
Murtadha, 2002, p. 148). Such an approach implies the need for a different set of knowledge,
skills, and dispositions among school leaders that will allow them to recognize and connect to
the needs of families, including those from diverse backgrounds. Likewise, a new vision for
school and family connections needs to move beyond an historical definition of involvement
that focused on limited definition of families and parenting and recognized “involvement”
through high visibility in school activities and/or through parental participation with
homework. The new vision replaces the focus on parents with a focus on families, recognizes
the role of diversity in school and family interactions, and views the resulting partnerships
among families and schools as mutual, culturally defined, and located in communities as well
as in the school building. We describe a variety of ways in which principals and other school
leaders can enact a paradigm shift away from traditional approaches to parent involvement
toward a more inclusive, culturally responsive and engaging approach to connecting with
families. We consider, too, how this new approach requires changes in the preparation of
school leaders and offer examples of promising practices for higher education programs.
SEARCHING FOR A NEW PARADIGM FOR FAMILY INVOLVEMENT
In searching for a new way to conceptualize family involvement, there is a need to
identify some new language to describe the breadth of ways in which families and school
professionals might be engaged with one another in a more mutual and culturally responsive
relationship. The term “parent involvement” has often been used to describe activities such as
parent conferences, parent-teacher associations, parent newsletters, parent sponsors, parent
chaperones, and other peripheral activities where parents are “invited in” to the school to
provide some supportive service. In our view, this traditional approach to parent involvement
suggests a unidirectional approach in which school professionals define the activities and
boundaries of involvement, and parents respond accordingly. Language used in a new
definition would illustrate a more multidirectional, democratic and mutual relationship in
which family members are recognized as equal leaders and participants in determining what
constitutes desirable relationships, policies, processes, and interactions with schools. As
school leaders create bonds and shared purposes with families concerning teaching and
learning of students, they foster new structures for family engagement leading to more
meaningful interactions (Young & Laible, 2000. Newer strategies and structures might