Abstract
This research examines the ways in which parents of Spanish-English emergent bilinguals perceive and navigate the implicit and explicit expectations for family engagement through analysis of contrasting case studies of focal students from two 4th grade classrooms, one characterized by English-medium instruction and the other by a developmental bilingual program. One case sheds light on the language barriers that hampered parents’ participation in their children’s education at school, while the other case highlights discrepancies in the understandings of parental and teacher roles and expectations. Findings demonstrate that parents’ capacity to meet school-based expectations was constrained by assumptions about their language abilities and familiarity with school-based knowledge, as well as differences in parents’ and teachers’ understandings of family engagement. These findings have important implications for parent-teacher communication and establishing collaborative home-school relationships.
Recommended Citation
Blair, A. (2023). Language, Cultural Knowledge, and Privileged Practices: A Case Study of Understandings that Shape Family Engagement for Parents of Spanish-English Emergent Bilinguals. Journal of English Learner Education. (15)2.
Retrieved from https://stars.library.ucf.edu/jele/vol15/iss2/4
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Elementary Education Commons
