Families as School Citizens
Family Positioning in the Spheres of Participation in Schools
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22006088 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brandon J Sherman (0000-0003-2953-480X, Pennsylvania State University, corresponding author), Cristina Santamaría Graff (0000-0002-4628-8949, Indiana University Indianapolis), Annela Teemant (0000-0002-8044-6672, Indiana University Indianapolis) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SAGE Open (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/21582440261442262 |
| OpenAlex | W7155425870 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 60 |
Families have been recognized a key element of schools, and models have been developed to aid schools in involving them. Yet, families are not monolithic, and more needs to be understood about how different families position themselves relative to formal schooling. In this article, we explore this phenomenon by analyzing family and educator responses to an open-ended survey collected in a suburban school district. To make sense of these family’s perspectives, we draw on models of citizenship and democratic family engagement as well as positioning theory . We view families and schools through the lens of citizenship Analyzing family and educator comments, we construct three positions: Active participation, potential participation, and exclusion and explore nuances within these. We discuss dynamics of race and power differentials. Finally, we relate findings to a proposed Spheres of Participation model to better understand how families see themselves and are seen by educators in relation to schools. Informed by theory and research, this model supposes a position that did not appear in the comments: Transformative participation. We close with discussion of the implications and potential uses of the model
Citizenship · Democracy · Phenomenon · Transformative learning · Parental Involvement in Education · School Choice and Performance · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
Effects of parental involvement on academic achievement
Present and Accounted for
Parent Involvement, African American Mothers, and the Politics of Educational Care
Beyond the Bake Sale
From Family Engagement to Equitable Collaboration
The Effects of Family-School Partnership Interventions on Academic and Social-Emotional Functioning
Equity Issues in Parental and Community Involvement in Schools
Promoting Well-Being of Children at School
English-medium instruction in higher education and the ELT gaze
Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth
Cooperation Between Parents and Teachers in the Context of Applied Forms of Cooperation
Family Engagement in Schools
Plexiglass
The Significance of Parents' Evaluations of their Own School for their Educational Attitudes
One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis
Who cares? Racial identity and the family–school relationship
(Re)conceptualizing family-school partnerships with and for culturally and linguistically diverse families
Black families’ resistance to deficit positioning
Disadvantaged families’ experiences of home-school partnerships
Knowledge is acting’
Parental involvement in children's schooling
Power Dynamics and Positioning in Teacher Home Visits with Marginalized Families
Professionalizing the PTO
Disrupting Racialized Institutional Scripts
Powerlessness in Professional and Parent Partnerships
Examining Barriers to Equity
A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Different Types of Parental Involvement Programs for Urban Students
That’s Why I Say Stay in School”
Exceptions to High School Dropout Predictions in a Low‐Income Sample
Failed Citizenship and Transformative Civic Education
Parent Marginalization, Marginalized Parents
Positioning
Recent Advances in Positioning Theory
Multilingual multiliteracies of Emergent Bilingual families
Avoiding Us versus Them
For Such a Time as This
Co-investigation and co-education in 'family as faculty' approaches
Toward collaborative partnerships
An equity framework for family, community, and school partnerships
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |