Preparing School Leaders to Build and Sustain Engagement with Families and Communities 153
embrace matters of social justice, equity, diversity, disability, and collaboration as core
components of leadership preparation and to recognize the importance of families and
communities as partners in our leadership endeavors. According to Larson and Murtadha
(2002), “social justice theorists in education argue that relationships between school leaders
and the communities they serve must change if we are to improve educational opportunities
and life chances of poor children and children of color” (p 148). While it is beyond the scope
of this chapter to describe all of the components for leadership preparation that can enact a
paradigm shift about leadership and family engagement, we do offer some approaches that
may help new leaders effect a more inclusive, culturally responsive and engaging approach to
connecting with families.
Expanding the Knowledge Base
As stated by Riehl, “there is a body of research, which more thoroughly explores what
school administrators can do to promote schooling that is fully inclusive and serves diverse
students well” (2002, p. 58). Thus, aspiring leaders must engage with new content to gain
insights into how to work with families, communities, and diverse populations. Aspiring
leaders need opportunities to build understanding about issues families face such as poverty,
culture, literacy, work, childcare, disability, and other challenges. More attention to federal,
state, and local laws or policies that influence school and family interactions is also needed.
How policies and procedures impact families (i.e. start and dismissal times, school schedules,
discipline policies, school lunch, dress codes, etc.) and impede success for family engagement
and partnerships represent another area of inquiry for aspiring school administrators. Higher
education faculty may search for ways to integrate new topics and/or models for family
inclusion and engagement into existing courses or create a stand-alone course required for
administrative licensure. Embedded in such courses are ongoing opportunities for reflective
and narrative writing through which students examine their own values and beliefs about
families, diverse learners, poverty, inclusion, socio-economic class and the roles families and
communities play in the schools. As students reflectively engage with new content and ideas,
they begin to reframe the belief structures and perspectives that drive their professional
practices as related to family engagement. Working in small groups to share their personal
narratives and reflections, they create opportunities to learn from one another and to begin to
construct the types of actions they could take as school leaders to create new forms of family
and community interactions and partnerships.
Developing New Skills and Insights
Fundamental to this ongoing learning is professional training on curriculum development
and how preparation programs support leaders who will acquire the capacity to work
collaboratively with families to examine school curricula for meeting the needs of diverse
students, special populations, and family or community values. Understanding the various
family structures, economic situations, cultural backgrounds, as well as issues of race,
ethnicity, disability, literacy, language, differentiation, teaming and community is important
in terms of how these issues and topics are related to curriculum development. Through
assignments that require ongoing dialogue with families and communities, aspiring leaders
learn how to recognize problematic patterns, confront inequities, and create purposeful
connections among family and community members and their schools. Within this process,