NC laboratory school principals’ efforts to implement culturally responsive parent, family, and community engagement
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Catina S. Chestnut (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Craig Peck
Abstract: In this qualitative study, I examined the efforts of three North Carolina laboratory school principals to implement culturally responsive parent, family, and community engagement. While there is already a significant body of literature on culturally responsive school leadership and parent and family engagement, there remains a need to examine how school principals attempt to tap into the expertise of nondominant families and communities in non-traditional schools, especially given the complexities of educational systems (Ishimaru, 2020). The principals in this research are experienced educators who currently serve at lab schools created through collaborations between the North Carolina General Assembly and University of North Carolina System as early as 2014. The idea of a laboratory school is not unique to the now nine schools operating through the UNC System. The concept of a lab school was the brainchild of American philosopher John Dewey, who strived to develop theories of child development and education (Whitman, 2020). Like the lab schools Dewey created as early as 1896, the three schools represented in my study are associated with a university and have a 3-part mission: facilitate research to learn more about how children grow and develop, educate pre-service education professionals, and serve the education profession (Wilcox-Herzog & McLaren, 2012). In addition to Dewey’s vision, NC laboratory schools also have the responsibility of celebrating the knowledge, skills, power, and resources of the school community. In this qualitative study, I captured the efforts of three NC laboratory school principals’ attempts to implement culturally responsive parent, family, and community engagement. I worked diligently to answer the following research questions: (1) How do NC lab school principals describe their attempts to lead for parent, family, and community engagement (PFCE) in their schools? (2) How do participants discuss the current state of PFCE in their school? (3) What is the relationship between a principal’s appointment in a NC lab school and their training in and practice of culturally responsive leadership? The theoretical framework for the study was adopted from the 4-tenets of Ann Ishimaru’s work in equitable collaboration (Ishimaru, 2020). For this study, I relied on two individual interviews with each NC lab school principal and one focus group session as primary data collection methods. Due to COVID19 restrictions at the time of my study, all interviews and the focus group took place over Zoom. This study affords readers an opportunity to examine the profiles of each principal participant and explore parent, family, and community engagement at each school. My findings reveal that NC lab school principals work with various partners to engage parents, families, and the community. I also found that NC lab school principals typically rely on single events to engage parents, families and community. In addition, I also discovered that NC lab school principals have both seized and missed opportunities to enhance culturally responsive parent, family, and community engagement, as well as finding that NC lab school principals have limited training in culturally responsive leadership. The principal participants in my study acknowledged that in their respective school, there was commitment to celebrating the knowledge, skills, power, and resources of the school community and they recognized that shifting the paradigm to more equitable collaboration was not an easy task and could not be done by the principal alone.
NC laboratory school principals’ efforts to implement culturally responsive parent, family, and community engagement
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Created on 5/1/2023
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2023
- Keywords
- Culturally Responsive, NC Lab Schools, Parent Engagement, Principals, Title I
- Subjects
- School principals $z North Carolina
- Laboratory schools $z North Carolina
- Culturally relevant pedagogy $z North Carolina