Permission Not Required: The Power of Parents to Disrupt Educational Hypocrisy

Abstract

This review is focused on literature documenting the experiences of nondominant and minoritized parents who challenge injustice and inequity in the public schools attended by their children. It interrogates hegemonic approaches to parent involvement favoring dominant groups and silencing efforts of nondominant parents to confront discriminatory assumptions and unequal opportunities. Research studies generally published between 1995 and 2016 reflecting grassroots parent activism encountering conflict and tension and exposing racism, classism, and discrimination in public school practices and policies were selected. Using the lens of critical race and social justice theories, the review is structured on three major public school hypocrisies: (1) hegemonic traditional school-controlled parent involvement that privileges dominant groups and devalues contributions of nondominant groups, (2) false claims of equity in schools characterized by stratified and differential opportunities, and (3) discriminatory market-based choice and privatization schemes. Ultimately the review calls on researchers to acknowledge ethical issues that arise when their work “confirms” nondominant parent and child inferiority. Further, it calls for observer–activist–participant research paradigms that acknowledge school-based resistance to critical nondominant parent activism and respectfully document the continuing struggle of nondominant parents for equal educational opportunities.