Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family Communication
Communication between families and schools is foundational for students’ academic success, community support for schools, and teachers’ experience. Yet, few preservice teacher education programs teach novices how to engage in equitable and effective collaborations with families. This manuscript repo...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/814 |
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| author | Lightning Peter Jay Naorah Rimkunas |
| author_facet | Lightning Peter Jay Naorah Rimkunas |
| author_sort | Lightning Peter Jay |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Communication between families and schools is foundational for students’ academic success, community support for schools, and teachers’ experience. Yet, few preservice teacher education programs teach novices how to engage in equitable and effective collaborations with families. This manuscript reports on a pilot study in which preservice teachers traveled to a local community school and role-played academic conversations with adults whose children were enrolled in the school. The analysis of the transcripts of the role plays, a debrief panel by family participants, and written reflections of eight participating preservice teachers and six family participants used codes derived from the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships. The findings show that both groups of participants found opportunities for thoughtful engagement. In the role plays, preservice teachers were most likely to demonstrate cognition by thinking flexibly about how to accommodate family and student needs. Family participants were most likely to demonstrate confidence by displaying their expertise and coaching the teachers. Activities like this may be useful sites for teachers and community members to practice effective collaboration skills. More broadly, the results may point toward an underutilized capacity within preservice teacher education to support family- and community-oriented schooling. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-25bd0ea48ec84de7ab60a7b979f7b5b9 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-25bd0ea48ec84de7ab60a7b979f7b5b92025-08-20T03:07:57ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022025-06-0115781410.3390/educsci15070814Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family CommunicationLightning Peter Jay0Naorah Rimkunas1Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education, College of Community and Public Affairs, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USADepartment of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education, College of Community and Public Affairs, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USACommunication between families and schools is foundational for students’ academic success, community support for schools, and teachers’ experience. Yet, few preservice teacher education programs teach novices how to engage in equitable and effective collaborations with families. This manuscript reports on a pilot study in which preservice teachers traveled to a local community school and role-played academic conversations with adults whose children were enrolled in the school. The analysis of the transcripts of the role plays, a debrief panel by family participants, and written reflections of eight participating preservice teachers and six family participants used codes derived from the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships. The findings show that both groups of participants found opportunities for thoughtful engagement. In the role plays, preservice teachers were most likely to demonstrate cognition by thinking flexibly about how to accommodate family and student needs. Family participants were most likely to demonstrate confidence by displaying their expertise and coaching the teachers. Activities like this may be useful sites for teachers and community members to practice effective collaboration skills. More broadly, the results may point toward an underutilized capacity within preservice teacher education to support family- and community-oriented schooling.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/814family–school communicationpreservice teacher educationfamily-centric schoolingpractice-based teacher education |
| spellingShingle | Lightning Peter Jay Naorah Rimkunas Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family Communication Education Sciences family–school communication preservice teacher education family-centric schooling practice-based teacher education |
| title | Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family Communication |
| title_full | Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family Communication |
| title_fullStr | Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family Communication |
| title_full_unstemmed | Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family Communication |
| title_short | Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family Communication |
| title_sort | real talk designing practice based teacher education for family communication |
| topic | family–school communication preservice teacher education family-centric schooling practice-based teacher education |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/814 |
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