By Georard N. Mitchell, Guest Contributor

As an educator, I find it imperative that we make an extra effort to meet the needs of students who don’t easily meld into the pot that is a public school education in America. Why an extra effort do you ask? Well, it’s because it seems as though our society has made an extra effort to ignore and oppress these students and their families.

Through our many fixtures such as intolerance, poverty, discrimination, racism, sexism, and any other applicable ism’s, our society actively works against the best interests of various groups of people. With that being said, we must actively combat these injustices in any way that we can.

As a black man, I spent a large portion of my life thinking that I had it harder than anyone else. At least that’s what I was told. What I experienced. It took a while before I realized, shamefully, that other than having grown up poor, I have privilege in almost every way possible. I’m a man, heterosexual, Christian, able-bodied, cognitively able, financial stable, young and healthy.

The blinders began to come off in college, but my privilege was more apparent when I began working as a teacher, specifically a special educator. I think that it becomes tough for humans to have empathy and compassion, when we think that we have it worse than everyone else. But as I took a step back, I found myself in the position of working towards being an ally towards other marginalized groups of people.

A specific “aha moment” was when I took a trip abroad. After a thirteen-hour flight to Turkey I had one question. Why is there so much English? As I continued my trip through the Netherlands and the Czech Republic I wondered, how would I navigate this trip if I didn’t speak English? This was the first time in my life I ever considered my linguistic privilege.

With all that is going on in our current sociopolitical sphere, Latino immigrant children are some of the newest victims of societal intolerance and ignorance. If coming to another country isn’t jarring enough, in addition to the many other circumstances students could be dealing with, imagine that the space that you spend the majority of time in outside of your home is spent as uncomfortably as you’ve been since you got here. Repeating the same frustrations day after day, with your only comfort being the hope of seeing other children you know at school who share your misery. The people around you don’t seem to understand any of what you say, you don’t understand the majority of what they say, and many people don’t seem to care that you have anything to say anyway. I think you get the point.

But let’s give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. Let’s assume that we want to help but maybe we don’t know how to assist these children in truly feeling valued. Maybe we just need a concrete example of how to get it done. Well the article, Artful Spaces/Safe Places: A Gallery Provokes Voices that Interrogate Common Narratives of Latino Immigrant Children, gives a glimpse into how we can do this.

The article details a collaboration between a community director at an urban Spanish-speaking church and faculty from literacy education and visual art at IUPUI. In a summer program, students created hanging journals made from clay that helped in expressing children’s otherwise silenced voices. These journals held more meaning than which the children could fully express in English.

Then students were shown that their work was valued, as it was displayed in a gallery for their friends, family and community to observe. Not only does this illustrate the significance of the arts for children, but it shows that if we truly want to understand the experiences of others and make meaningful connections with them, we can.

Georard N. Mitchell is an Educational Leadership Master of Arts student in the IU School of Education at IUPUI.

By Kristyn Dingledy, Guest Contributor

Schools are places known to get things done. Students learn how to read and perform math equations, professional developments are put into practice, parents are called at the end of a long day, and things get done. The lingering question to ask is if “the things getting done” are the best they can be? Are our urban schools getting by or getting things done?  

What if communities, schools, and families came together as partners to use the power of a collective to get things done? Could using the assets of each group and working toward amending the deficits that exist in all three groups through partnership and mutual power get things done?

Care is essential. It falls right after trust in my opinion. Without the two, you cannot foster real relationships. Real relationships share power. Consider your own relationships where you feel cared for and trusted and value the other person. Is there a balance of power or trust?  

Growth is another critical component of relationships. The ability to grow as a person or a group depends upon the trust and care you have for one another. It is dependent upon the power you give to one another cultivating authenticity and growth of one another. I think of my own children and how I want them to grow and become who they are meant to be. Do you support growth of your students and families and their communities?

Educational opportunities that are genuinely shared to build upon assets and lessen deficits are borne out of a mutual respect and listening to people. These opportunities allow families to collaborate with the school, to build upon their interests and skill sets, then give back to the school, and perpetuate growth back to the community.

Developing leaders of the community with community-based organizations and the school is critical and challenging when working to restore a power imbalance. It requires a paradigm shift of the school and the families of the community. Relationships between community-based organizations, schools, and families fostering students to become their best selves to further the community is what the authors of “Beyond the Bake Sale: A Community-Based Relational Approach to Parent Engagement in Schools” promote with their look into schools practicing the service model, development model, and organizing model.

Relationships bridged between communities, schools, and families answer the posed question: are schools using power to get things done? The power of the collaboration of the established community-based organizations is to help fill needs or services, teaching families the skills needed to become leaders of the school and community. Listening to the families through informal and formal surveys can help truly meet their needs and determine how to share the power, creating change within the communities.  

We can all relate to the need of relationships. It’s something people do: seek out camaraderie and support. Building relationships between staff and families is critical, but so is encouraging families to build relationships between one another, to perpetuate a vested interest in the future of all of the students of the community. 

Bringing families together through volunteering, educational opportunities, and activities and events provides opportunities for relationships to grow through discussion. This can lead to families coming together to look for ways to solve problems within the school and the community. When families feel valued at the school they are willing to talk and work toward common goals. The school, along with the community-based organizations and the families bring all the components together to create the power to get things done, promoting change for the whole community.

Kristyn Dingledy is an Educational Leadership Master of Arts student in the IU School of Education at IUPUI.

By Jibrea Perryman, Guest Contributor

Trust is an abstract concept that most people believe is needed and a valuable asset. Being able to trust a partner or a partnership means that there is a sense of reliability; they believe in you and are confident in your abilities. There tends to be a sense of safety; physically and emotionally. 

On a personal note, when I’m in a trusting relationship, I know they will not present any harm my way. I believe what they tell me because I trust their words and their actions. For me, trust is typically an underpinning for a friendship. I know that in the education world, specifically community-engaged partnerships, the notion of a friendship, then a trusting partnership will not always occur. However, no one can predict the outcome of reciprocity in trust.

As I synthesize all of the knowledge gained over my course work, trust is one of the key ingredients needed in community-engaged partnerships. Over the course of history, trust in the community has not always been had or valued. This makes forming community partnerships more challenging. The community members have a distaste for researchers who simply come in and take. I’m sure the coined phrase reciprocity in trust isn’t a new statement, but it put into perspective that with true trust, there can be a mutual exchange, where everyone can give and receive in the partnership.  

I read the article  Trust In Participatory Action Community-Engaged Partnerships: Relationships and Historic Trauma Matter. I really learned more about the effects of historical trauma in communities. I have a deep interest in trauma because I’ve seen it play out inside the classroom. This article is a great starting place to begin an inquiry on trauma in the education field.  What I liked about this article is how the researcher’s shared with the audience the reasoning behind why trust in community-engaged partnerships is critical. The researchers’ main goal was to show how “A model of trust formed when partners exhibit relational capital, relational embeddedness, and transparency within the principles of trauma-informed care,” (Carlson et al, 2019, pg. 18).   

The researchers knew there was a not-so-good history between researchers and community members due to previous researchers coming, in taking what they needed and leaving. Often times, they did not even share the data found with the community members. Because of this, the university members knew it was imperative to build a relationship based on trust. Additionally, the researchers had done their due diligence and knew the historical trauma the African American community had faced.  

The team of researchers were very specific in their inquiry-based questions.  They were purposeful in wanting to bring “trauma-responsive interventions” to the identified community.  What I found most fascinating was that the team focused their research inquiry down to two questions:

• What are the major areas of concern for people in the community regarding working with university researchers?

• What are the main best practices that university researchers can do to enhance partnership with the community? 

Prior to reading this article, I had never heard of the thematic analysis method. Carlson et al (2019) states, “The thematic analysis included line by line and axial coding on the quotations in the transcribed data. Further analysis used the constant comparison approach within and across data points,” (Calson et al, 2019, pgs. 20-21). I synthesize this to mean that they more than likely recorded conversations and coded the data collected. Additionally, they compared the data received. From their data analysis they were able to explain their findings and create best practices on how to build trusting relationships.  

The team understood the necessity to be open and transparent with the members of the community. Most of all, the research team members made sure to treat the community members with respect. They didn’t have the notion that they, as the university members, had all the knowledge, while the community members were empty vessels lacking in knowledge.  

Jibrea Perryman is an Educational Leadership Master of Arts student in the IU School of Education at IUPUI.

By Steven Webb, Guest Contributor

In her article, “When Schools Cause Trauma,” Carrie Gaffney explains: “According to a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), individual trauma is best understood as the result of ‘an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects.'” 

Educators, continuously have to navigate through our interactions with students and the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) which they carry with them. However, even a school, which focuses on trauma-informed practice, can be re-traumatizing students and eroding the trust that must be present for students to be successful in the classroom.

Everyone has experienced a certain level of trauma in their lives, and this trauma plays a crucial role in how individuals interact with those around them. In other words, our trauma informs us about how we should trust; and the more trauma one has experienced in their life, the harder it is for that individual to form trusting relationships. There have been numerous studies which detail the link between a person’s ACE score and their ability to trust. I feel that the most notable take away from these studies is that students who have experienced a significant amount of trauma in their lives, spend a large portion of their brain energy in “fight or flight” mode as opposed to cognition mode (or learning mode). 

Most educators will tell you that their job is to teach students, and the classroom should be considered a safe place for students. I would assume that most parents would state that the primary goal of sending their children to school is also for them to learn in a safe space. If both educators and parents agree that a primary goal of school is learning, what is preventing this from happening? What is breaking these students trust in that safety? What factors are causing students to put up barriers to protect themselves from re-traumatization as opposed to opening their minds to new knowledge?

Gaffney goes on to explain in her article that the first steps to helping students navigate their trauma is realizing that the trauma exists and recognizing the signs and symptoms of trauma. This realization and recognition includes schools understanding their role in causing trauma, both historically and presently, in low-income communities and communities of color.  

As stated before, even schools with the best intentions could be re-hashing trauma all over again. Gaffney says that this can happen through the curriculum and/or school policies and procedures. An example that comes to mind is discipline policy that contributes to the “school to prison pipeline.” Educators teach students to recognize and accept the differences of others; however, that same recognition and acceptance is not always present when dealing with students who may be labeled “heavy hitters” or “difficult.”

I know that it would be hard for me to step into a room or building, daily, where I felt I would be singled out for being me and would be punished for expressing myself in the only way that I know. I know that I would not trust that I was safe in that environment. I would not trust that I was welcome. I would not trust that I could learn anything. Eventually, I would lose trust in myself. How traumatizing!!

Steven Webb is an Educational Leadership Master of Arts student in the IU School of Education at IUPUI.

By Beth DeSalvo, Guest Contributor

I am more and more comfortable with the “Why” when it comes being a culturally responsive school leader, but I have been searching for examples of the “How.”

“Walking the Walk” outlines three different “How to” methods for creating family engagement, which is at the heart of cultural responsiveness.

The three different methods came out of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools that were each at least 90% Latino and 90% of students receive free and reduced-price lunch.  All schools were low achieving, according to the state accountability system.

I connected with Principal Zavala’s Parent Colloquium. She took the typical Open House or Back to School Night and transformed it into something real, relevant, and relatable for families in the school community. The Parent Colloquium is a school-sponsored parent event with a theme of “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty and Violence though Education.” Parents attend a free breakfast and then can choose from 15 free workshops to attend. Parents choose two workshops and children play supervised sports or computer games while parents attend workshops. Families ware served lunch after the workshops.

Parent involvement was non-existent until she established and grew the colloquium.  It’s chock full of activities for families geared to their needs, interests, and literacy level.

The whole premise is to meet parents where they are and develop relationships to improve school culture. Brilliant! Parents don’t want to come to Back to School nights and sit and listen to school rules, then go to classrooms and hear classroom rules.  Talking at parents is the best way to drive them away. It’s just not engaging. As educators, we are driven to keep students fully engaged, but we haven’t yet figured out how to do the same for families.

Principal Perez’ Parents as Authors Program also seems to be a great way to engage families and make meaningful connections. Parents as Authors is focused on providing parents and families an opportunity to use the writing process to create a book for their students. Parents are guided by teachers and Principal Perez and often given a template to follow in order to create the book. The program culminates with a celebration and book sharing session on Dia del Nino (Children’s Day).

Families come together on a regular basis and create a unique publication that they will have as a keepsake for years to come. Families learn about the writing process and can support their own children who are doing the same thing. This family-school connection is a beautiful thing. What better way for students to value the art of writing than to see their families cherish the same thing.

Principal Franco’s House Meetings aim to create the same sort of culturally responsive school leadership by inviting “relational power.”  This is the power to take action WITH others, rather than OVER others. House Meetings are small discussion groups that emphasize getting to know one another through storytelling. This informal approach to community engagement is a way to start and continue conversations that are important to families.

The first meetings were small, but out of the first round of meetings grew the discussion for the next round and so on. These meetings broke down so many barriers.

These three examples have given me some great tools for building programs that stimulate and promote real community engagement in schools. The power of meaningful, sustainable community engagement is real. Students will succeed when schools and communities partner. Families who feel supported and valued will engage, and schools who foster and favor this level of community engagement will reap the rewards.

It truly does take a village to raise a child.

Beth DeSalvo is an Urban Principalship Program student in the IU School of Education at IUPUI.

By Timothy Holmes, Guest Contributor

I ask for anyone to look at any relationship that exists between  at least two parties. One example could be a partnership between two companies working together to maximize their profits, while also meeting the needs of their customers. It could also include players participating in a team sport, working together to accomplish the same goal. Of course, one can not forget the relationship between two individuals who love and care for each other.

All of these examples, and others, require something that is valued and important: TRUST. Each partnership or group must have trust to ensure a positive and fruitful relationship.

Trust is a sacred bond that must be earned, created, and cherished. Trust takes time. Trust requires patience. One has to ask if this bond, trust, is so valuable, then why is it scarce? It is particularly so between our schools and the communities that they serve, specifically ones in African-American communities.

Where did this disconnect between families and school-leaders originate from?

In the article titled, “Trust in Participatory Action Community-Engaged Partnerships: Relationships and Historic Trauma Matter,” the authors break down and discuss their findings on why there is a lack of trust between school-based researchers and the community.

The writers say distrust from the community is a result of trauma from years and years of being marginalized and not seen as equal to those of the “majority” or “dominant” race. In addition, the participants from the research often times feel empty, or cheated due to the fact that many of the findings and conclusions made by the researchers are rarely shared with the community. The individuals who are subjects in this study would like to receive feedback from the research and would like an explanation of possible steps to further empower themselves.

If trust between two parties is to work, it must be a “two-way street.” In other words, this bond must be beneficial for both parties. Partner organizations, teammates, and/or individuals must have a common goal for the good of both parties.

It is shocking and upsetting that researchers would come into a community, use the people and their resources for their gain, and essentially leave the families stranded and empty without much of any type of feedback or conclusion that can be used or shared. This is just one of many reasons the community has reason to be upset and distrust individuals or groups who conduct research for their own personal or professional gain.

Anyone who wants to become engaged with the community should reach out and get to know the individuals with whom they are working. They should take the time to truly know the subjects and state their intentions. Also, don’t forget to follow-through and report back the findings to the community about the research. It is important to keep that open line of communication with those who took part in the research. Let them know that their participation and contributions were welcomed during this particular project.

Lastly, we as leaders, school personnel, researchers, and partners have the responsibility and duty to be upfront and transparent with the information that we share and distribute to all those involved. I can not emphasize how much researchers and school leaders must gain trust of the community to build a respectable relationship.

The biggest thing that I have learned in the past few weeks is that our communities have wonderful people with countless skills and talents. Our families are an asset to everything that makes a school and community great. We need to continue to value them as resources and welcome their thoughts, opinions, and strengths to encourage more community-engaged research projects and opportunities.

Timothy Holmes is an Educational Leadership Master of Arts student in the IU School of Education at IUPUI.

By Le’Joy White, Guest Contributor

As a high school college and career counselor, I have regularly been in the position of giving information to students. I talk to them about curriculums, admission requirements, SAT/ACT exams, internships, employment, the list goes on and on.

My speeches on college and career were rarely interrupted by the audience of students and parents. I was an expert in their eyes. Although we claim not to know it all, our behavior indicates otherwise. Counselors are taught to ask questions, listen, and respond. However, you are not told to encourage students or families to share what they know and to respect the banks of knowledge that they bring with them into that meeting or workshop.

“Forming a mutually respectful university-community partnership through a ‘family as faculty’ project” made me question my approaches and some of the best practices that I have learned over the years. Are we missing an important perspective that could provide us with even more information about our students?

Family as Faculty describes “an approach to teaching or research in which family members take on a leadership role, teach others through their insider perspectives, and broaden understandings of those with are working with or for their children” (Heller & McKlindon, 1996; Johnson, Yoder, & Richardson-Nassif, 2006).  Although this article focuses on a university and community partnership, I believe it can apply to any school and community partnership.

Family as Faculty was a new concept for me that focuses on families and their power. As a college and career counselor, I often saw what the parents needed to know and the gaps in their knowledge. This was a deficit mindset that lead to a generalization that all families did not know about the topics we discussed. I am sure, if I had asked, that there were parents that understood the financial aid process or admission requirements. This was a missed opportunity for true family engagement, leadership, and advocacy. Families and peers are often the most influential on student success and college and career decisions.

The article highlights first the need for “mutually defined and beneficial” goals. In the high school setting, this can be accomplished through initial family meetings and discussions by engaging families in conversation about topics they feel they need more resources or support with. These topics or concerns then become the shared goals for the counselor and the families.

Beyond the shared goals, opportunities for families to share their knowledge is critical in Family as Faculty. This means leading or co-facilitating workshops, small group discussions, or panels to discuss their experiences and learnings. In this model, counselors can research alongside families, develop knowledge together, and build the skills of families.

The authors of the article stress reciprocity and the value of compensating families that act as co-educators or facilitators. We often fund external organizations to lead trainings or workshops, so why not families? Sustainability is something to consider, but as discussed in the article, this is a sign of appreciation and recognition of the time and effort invested into the project.

This article reminded me that I am not the only expert in the room and that the lived experiences of families can add a critical perspective to the conversation that is often missing. It is possible to accomplish the goals of ensuring that all students are aware of their college and career options, while partnering with families in a meaningful way. I believe this model takes family engagement into family partnership and ultimately creates an environment for families to advocate for their child, create and contribute to their goals, and share their knowledge, skills, and insight to impact student success.

Le’Joy White is an Urban Educations Studies Doctoral Student in the IU School of Education at IUPUI.

By Brian D. Long, Guest Contributor

Without trust a person’s mindset cannot be changed and partnerships cannot be transparent.

This article, “Trust in Participatory Action Community Engaged Partnerships: Relationships and Historic Trauma Matter,” made it clear that the lack of trust can be detrimental to any existing partnership and a stumbling block to any attempts at starting any new working relationship. It amazes me that the same means that are used to help one person is also the same thing that can cause hurt in someone else.

The article spoke on past research groups using the people in the community to get something they needed, but mentioned that a major problem with the process was the lack of reciprocity for the community.

Statements were made that members of the community felt like they didn’t get anything in return for their help and transparency throughout the different phases of the interviewing and research procedures. Furthermore, community members felt that the situations they raised awareness to didn’t change after the data was collected.

I see a significant correlation with how the education system works. Educators collect data, in hopes to see causes and effects to whatever they are researching. However, in all that researching and data collecting, nothing significant ever really changes for the student community in most cases, at least not meaningful changes for the student that affects them directly.

I believe the data we collect in the school is beneficial to us, but not the students. With that, I think schools and districts are extremely good at convincing the students and families to celebrate the successes the individual schools say they should be joyful about, rather than listening to and valuing what the family and community stakeholders may view as a significant trade off for their participation.

As an educator, I sometimes get the feeling that school districts believe that they know what’s best for the child more so than their actual parent or guardian does. Districts come up with different narratives and scenarios and tell the families what they need to know and what is good or bad based on data collected. I truly believe that takes the respect and recognition of the parents and families as a valuable component to the child’s learning out of the school and student relationship. 

The article spoke on historical trauma and the lack of trust it manifests. This made me think about the students that have a history of hating school and struggling academically. How is that fixed? I have seen data collected on reading readiness, math appropriateness, test-based skills implementation, and science inquiry, but I haven’t seen anything studied or collected about how to break down walls in order to gain that trust.

I do not understand how resources are divided up within a school district, but it seems to me that not all problems are solved by implementing more academic programs or learning-based projects. Do not get me wrong; those things are wonderful and a great asset. However, what good do they do if the student’s greatest barrier is not a learning gap, but a trusting gap? Actually, when it is said that way, then I guess it is a learning gap.

So that leads to the question: How do you teach a student that doesn’t trust you enough to learn from you? The domino effect of this question is crucial because it creates an “Us vs. Them” type of mentality. The teachers are frustrated because their employment is performed-based and if the students aren’t performing then the teacher is out of a job potentially. On the other hand, the student will lack growth because he or she doesn’t trust the teacher enough to let their guard down and be vulnerable enough to allow learning to occur.

Brian D. Long is an Educational Leadership Master of Arts student in the IU School of Education at IUPUI.