Parental Involvement: Rhetoric of Inclusion in an Environment of Exclusion

Abstract

This article explores how parents and school personnel perceived and experienced parental involvement at a school serving a low-income mainly black population. The first author recorded detailed field notes (n=70) and conducted in-depth interviews with parents (n=20) and school personnel (n=20) over a three-year period. Despite rhetoric of inclusion, the school’s policies and practices restricted parents to predetermined and acceptable roles of parental involvement. Ideologies of colorblind racism undergirded school policies and practices, thereby maintaining current social hierarchies of white privilege and racial minority disadvantage. This colorblind approach to parental involvement created barriers to the development of authentic relationships and, therefore, the development of a positive, mutual, and respectful relationship between student families and school personnel. Naming racism and recognizing its impact on the school environment are important first steps towards change. School staff and teachers must be willing to interrogate their participation in maintaining social hierarchies.