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Intersectionality as a Framework for Understanding School Involvement and Advocacy Beliefs of Latina/o Families of Young Children

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Academic Socialization of Young Black and Latino Children

Abstract

Although the recent literature on parental involvement among Latina/o families has focused on cultural strengths , few studies have examined the school involvement beliefs and practices of Latina/o families who vary across demographic and sociocultural lines within the same school community. In this chapter, I use intersectionality as a theoretical and interpretive framework for examining the narratives of 12 Latina/o parents regarding their children’s education, involvement, and advocacy beliefs during the first years of formal schooling, using qualitative methods. Parents espoused the cultural value of educación and attributed supportive relationships as important sources of feeling welcome at school. Intersectional differences attributable to parents’ education, immigration history, and contextual circumstances emerged in parents’ perceptions of an “open-door” policy at school, and in the type of advocacy they employed on behalf of children. An intersectional approach to building solidarity with families is discussed in terms of its potential in facilitating a critical multicultural consciousness among teachers, and for establishing informed and authentic partnerships with Latina/o families.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Although the term “Latino ” has traditionally been considered a gender-neutral term, “Latina/o” will be used in the present chapter, since an explicit attention to gender is a critical component of an intersectional framework.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Applied Human Development, Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, 2 Silber Way, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Tina M. Durand

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  1. Tina M. Durand
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Correspondence to Tina M. Durand .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Susan Sonnenschein

  2. College of Education, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA

    Brook E. Sawyer

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Durand, T.M. (2018). Intersectionality as a Framework for Understanding School Involvement and Advocacy Beliefs of Latina/o Families of Young Children. In: Sonnenschein, S., Sawyer, B. (eds) Academic Socialization of Young Black and Latino Children. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04486-2_7

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