Invitations to dialogue

Abstract

The Reading and Writing Project, an action research study, focused on the importance of engaging in dialogue to establish respectful, collaborative home-school connections. The study was designed to offer numerous opportunities for parent and teacher to engage in dialogue. These opportunities included a series of eight night meetings; occasions for students, parents, and teacher to author books; and invitations to parents to have conversations with the reading teacher about their own schooling and that of their children. Critical theory provided the theoretical framework for examining issues of power as they relate to the parent-teacher relationship. Data collection included books written by students, parents, and teacher; field notes; emails and notes written by parents; informal conversations; and transcribed interviews. The participants of the study included kindergarten and first grade students taught by the reading specialist during the 2005-06 school year, their parents, and a few self-selected teachers. The kindergarten students had all been retained in kindergarten. The first grade students had been identified as struggling with reading and were being served by me in a pull-out reading program. Data were analyzed through constant comparison. Two major themes were 1) that parents explained parental involvement differently from the ways schools often define it, and 2) parents’ fears and frustrations were often underlying emotions in the home-school connection.