TY - JOUR
T1 - Aligning theory with practice
T2 - Understanding school-family partnerships at an inner-city high school
AU - Williams, Terrinieka T.
AU - Sánchez, Bernadette
AU - Hunnell, Jessica
N1 - Funding Information:
The first author would like to thank the public high school staff, administrators and parents that collaborated with her and allowed her to become a part of their world. She would also like to acknowledge the Social Science Research Council and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues whose funding was instrumental in the success of this study.
PY - 2011/5
Y1 - 2011/5
N2 - Ideally, theoretical constructs and real world practice should be closely related. The aim of this study was to examine the ways in which ecological principles (i.e., cycling of resources, adaptation, interdependence, and succession) were reflected in school-family partnerships. Parents (n= 15) and school personnel (n= 10) at a predominantly African American inner-city high school participated in in-depth interviews regarding their conceptualizations of parental involvement, home-school interactions and strengths and weaknesses of home-school communication. Four major themes emerged to highlight the connection between the theoretical principles of ecology and the practice of parental involvement: effective communication, initiation of contact, provide and protect, and contextual conditions. Although theory and practice overlap, study findings suggest ways in which the ecological principals might expand to better align with the practice of school-family partnerships in inner-city high schools. Future directions for theory and practice are discussed.
AB - Ideally, theoretical constructs and real world practice should be closely related. The aim of this study was to examine the ways in which ecological principles (i.e., cycling of resources, adaptation, interdependence, and succession) were reflected in school-family partnerships. Parents (n= 15) and school personnel (n= 10) at a predominantly African American inner-city high school participated in in-depth interviews regarding their conceptualizations of parental involvement, home-school interactions and strengths and weaknesses of home-school communication. Four major themes emerged to highlight the connection between the theoretical principles of ecology and the practice of parental involvement: effective communication, initiation of contact, provide and protect, and contextual conditions. Although theory and practice overlap, study findings suggest ways in which the ecological principals might expand to better align with the practice of school-family partnerships in inner-city high schools. Future directions for theory and practice are discussed.
KW - Ecological principals
KW - Qualitative
KW - School-family partnerships
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79952901356&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.11.012
DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.11.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79952901356
SN - 0190-7409
VL - 33
SP - 689
EP - 697
JO - Children and Youth Services Review
JF - Children and Youth Services Review
IS - 5
ER -