Where Do We Go From Here in Family Engagement? Comments At the Late Turn of the 21st Century

Abstract

In this paper, I reflect upon several concerns related to parent engagement policies and laws affecting school-home relationships and end with describing the challenges of effective practices among teachers of diverse families mostly new immigrants and refugees, specifically those utilizing intercultural liaisons. In so doing, I briefly trace and problematize some of the history of policies and research in home-school-community partnership(s). I draw on strong examples from practice—both that from my own ethnographic research, insights from teaching about family engagement with pre-service and in-service teachers and then also from work I’ve seen taking place internationally and described by other practitioners in both the U.K. and in the U.S.