Preparing School Leaders to Build and Sustain Engagement with Families and Communities 151
CREATING SCHOOL STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES THAT VALUE
COLLABORATION, SHAPRED LEADERSHIP, AND CULTURAL COMPETENCE
Recently, research on school principals has increasingly recognized leadership and change
as a collaborative enterprise closely tied to the realities of classrooms, the core purpose of
individual schools, and the families and communities that the school represents (DuFour &
Eacker, 1998; Fullan, 2002; Fullan, 2003; Huffamn & Jacobson, 2003; Kirst, McLaughlin, &
Massell, 1990; Schmoker, 2004; Senge, 1990). Effective leaders understand the importance of
collaborative teaming and action-oriented inquiry, and how these processes help to ensure the
success of students from a variety of backgrounds (Schmoker, 2004). The literature has
identified related effective principal behaviors, including empowering teachers through
talking openly and freely with them about teaching and learning, providing time and
encouraging peer connections, and leading in ways that motivate and facilitate growth among
teachers (Blase & Blase, 1999a). School leaders need to ensure that their efforts to engage
families in dialogues about their schools’ vision, culture and curriculum truly value the voices
of family members when important school decisions are made. For example, the literature
supports the use of problem-solving teams with high levels of involvement from principals,
teachers, and family members (Furney, Hasazi, Clark/Keefe, & Hartnett, 2003; Furney et al.,
2005; Shepherd, 2006). These teams bring administrators, educators and family members
together for the purpose of developing and monitoring plans to support students experiencing
challenges in school. School leaders must reinforce a sense of parity among all team members
and acknowledge the power of family members as well as of school personnel during
decision-making.
Principals who value the engagement of families ensure that school personnel understand,
respect, and value the unique experiences, strengths and challenges of students and families
from diverse backgrounds. Leaders play a key role in helping teachers to examine their own
assumptions about diversity in its many manifestations, and to reflect on how those
assumptions positively or negatively affect their interactions with children and families. In a
classic study of the interactions between special education professionals and Puerto-Rican
families who had children with disabilities, Harry (1992) articulated how school personnel
failed to understand the cultural context of the families, and in turn, misinterpreted parents'
actions and participation in education planning meetings. Rao's (2000) case study of “Rose,”
an African-American mother of a child with disabilities, portrayed a similar lack of cultural
understanding on the part of school and agency personnel. They used language and labels that
held negative connotations for Rose and conflicted with her positive construction of her son's
challenges. Over time, she lost a sense of trust in the service providers and systems that she
had expected would offer her support and her team lost its ability to provide effective support
for her and her son.
Stories such as these emphasize the need for principals to examine the degree to which
the understanding of and investment in families of diverse backgrounds are reflected in their
schools’ overall culture, classrooms, team processes, and daily operations (Lopez, Scribner,
& Mahitivanichch, 2001; Scheurich, 1998; Shapiro, Monzo, Rueda, Gomez, & Blacher,
2004). Some examples of family-centered and culturally responsive practices may be found in
the literature related to children with disabilities and their families from diverse backgrounds
(Christensen & Rizvi, 1996; Scheurich & Laible, 1995). These suggest that school leaders
need to ensure that parents receive information on legal and education issues in their first
language and prior to any formal meetings scheduled with school personnel. Education