Recognizing and Welcoming the Standpoint of Low-income Parents in the Public Schools

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

1-1-2003

Abstract

The author focuses on ways in which the standpoint of low-income parents might be recognized and respected in the public schools. In order to counter-act the prevailing state of affairs in which low-income parents are not as welcome nor as privileged in the schools as middle-class parents. There is much that can be done to include low-income parents in school partnerships and to increase the value that teachers and administrators place on such an enter-prise. Educational consultants are in a particularly pivotal position to influence such change. Prescriptions for change, relevant to work with administrators, teachers, and parents, are presented as general guides. The recommended strategies are (a) replace stereotypes about low-income parents with recognition of their strengths, (b) help parents deal with obstacles to school participation, (c) expand parental roles in the school, (d) expand opportunities for informal communication, and (e) encourage leadership by those in power.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation

Volume

14

Issue

1

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