Theorizing Community and School Partnerships with Diné Youth
FEATURE ARTICLE Theorizing Community and School Partnerships with Diné Youth HOLLIE ANDERSON KULAGO Elmira College Introduction DUCATIONAL RESEARCH shows that partnerships among families, schools and communities are crucial in helping students succeed in school (Epstein, 2001; Epstein & Sanders, 2002; Hidalgo, Siu & Epstein, 2004; Klug & Whitfield, 2003; McCarty & Bia, 2002; Sailor, 2004; Ward, 2005). Schools need well-organized goal-oriented and sustainable partnership programs that systematically strengthen and maintain family and community involvement (Epstein & Salinas, 2004). The community influences on our children function through processes of socialization, social control, social participation and mutual support (Sailor, 2004). Overall, the community is a “designated space where people live and share some sense of belonging” (Sailor, 2004, p. 395). In the school community, children also need to feel that they have socially defined roles, relations and structure within their school experiences (Ward, 2005). There is still much research needed in order to know the strengths of various racial, ethnic and cultural characteristics of families and communities (Epstein & Sanders, 2002). More attention needs to be given to “family and community rituals, values, cultural norms, aspirations for children, racial identity development, and formal and informal networks of support” (Epstein & Sanders, 2002, p. 529) among diverse cultural communities that students come from. Even the meaning of schooling and educational attainment should be identified in terms of relevant social and cultural processes for Native American1 populations (Ward, 2005). There are at least three issues that add to the complexity in creating school and community partnerships in Native American communities. First is the issue of “the” community. A critique within multicultural education is that multicultural education’s application of community has relied on narrow notions of community (Nieto, Bode, Kang & Raible, 2008).
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