Multi-Layered Barriers to Engaging Families in Schools: Qualitative Study of School Professionals

Background and Purpose: Schools possess unique advantages in fostering resilience among school-aged children. In order for children to have equal opportunities for educational success in schools, school professionals need to engage families in meaningful partnerships. When school professionals engage students’ families outside of the classroom, the school becomes a vital part of family life. Active family engagement in schools influence students’ improved outcomes in academics, physical health, and socio-emotional behaviors. In addition, it increases parents’ adaptive and social skills, while fostering teachers’ quality of teaching and response to students’ understanding in schools. Despite the importance of family engagement, effective approaches to family engagement are often perceived differently between families and school professionals and marginalized families experience barriers in working with schools. Considering significant roles school professionals play in the success of family engagement, it is critical to understand school professionals’ perspectives on family engagement and identify barriers to effective family engagement in schools.

Methods: This study employed a qualitative case study approach in order to understand school professionals’ perspectives of family engagement and identify barriers to effective family engagement. Thirty school professionals in one rural and two suburban schools in the northeast U.S. were included in the study. Six interviews and eight focus groups were conducted from September 2016 to May 2017. Questions about school professionals’ perspectives of family engagement in their teaching and practice were asked during the data collection. Seven school counselors, six school administrators, five teachers, five community school coordinators, four social workers, one psychologist, one librarian, and one nurse participated in interviews and focus groups. All of them identified as white, and twenty-two identified as female with eight identifying as male participants. The average practice/teaching experience of the sample in schools was 15.5 years (range: 1-31 years). The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004).

Findings: Respondents expressed the importance of family engagement in schools and identified barriers of family engagement in schools. Furthermore, multi-layered of barriers of family engagement in schools were identified: (a) family level (intergenerational poverty, transportation, and negative history with schools); and (b) school level (lack of buy-in for family engagement and negative perceptions about marginalized families).

Conclusion and Implications: In this study, respondents voiced the importance of understanding contextual factors of families in order to implement effective family engagement. It was revealed that with limited public transportation, not only is participating in the educational process difficult, but also access to needed services becomes extremely challenging. For families with limited resources, especially in rural areas, school-linked services where community agencies and schools collaborate to provide a variety of social and health services to children and their families can be an effective approach. Lastly, systemic changes in school systems including administrative buy-in for family engagement and increase of internal communication are suggested.

References:

Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24, 105-112.