Asking, listening, and learning: Toward a more thorough method of inquiry in home–school relations

The article provides a rationale and description of a constructivist parent–teacher approach used to support preservice teachers’ understandings of relationships between home and school. Using a critical theoretical framing of policy, social science, and enacted curriculum, the authors ask readers to consider moving away from proscribed models of home–school relationships to a partnering lens which allows teachers to view their initial communications as a crucial teacher-learning endeavor. With this approach, preservice teachers are constructing their understanding of parents’ views of children, uncovering resources and parents ideals, and empowering themselves to deconstruct/reconstruct images of families in a more just framework.

Research highlights
► Authors capture the process and actions between university course work and field experiences allowing preservice teachers to alter their subjectivities and actions in order to more closely tailor learning approaches to community contexts.
► The research features the learning and voice(s) of preservice teachers as a critical constructive lens is created during inquiry work with the parents of students in classrooms.