Although researchers and practitioners have acknowledged that family engagement in children’s schooling occurs in many forms, most studies and program efforts continue to focus primarily on school-based participation, or the school-to-home link. Embedded within this notion of family-school partnership is the reification of a power differential between teachers (the experts) and parents (the learners) that assumes if parents only apply themselves to learn the socialization practices of the schools, their children’s outcomes will improve. However, this approach does not recognize that for many low-income, ethnic minority and immigrant families, sociocultural and language differences between families and educators make this school-to-home flow of information and influence fraught. Cultural misconceptions and hierarchical power structures often preclude educators from accessing potentially powerful information about home-based practices and routines, families’ experiential knowledge, and other aspects of children’s out-of-school lives. Such information-seeking attitudes and practices could form the basis of engaging and meaningful family engagement programming, as well as translate into culturally-sustaining curriculum that reflects children’s everyday lives in the classroom. By disrupting the existing power structure, seeking to cross cultural boundaries, and framing family engagement as emphasizing information flowing from the home to the school, Head Start staff and parent leaders, as illustrated in the description of this pilot program, made a shift in their expectations for how families can contribute to their children’s school readiness and success. They sought to build a culturally inclusive and welcoming environment for all. This paper will describe their work together for the benefit of other early childhood practitioners who seek alternative ways to engage with families.

尽管研究人员和从业人员已经承认，家庭参与儿童入学的形式多种多样，但大多数研究和计划工作仍主要集中于学校参与或学校对家庭的参与。关联。家庭-学校伙伴关系这一概念的根基在于纠正教师（专家）和父母（学习者）之间的权力差异，该权力差异假设如果父母仅将自己应用到学校的社会化实践中，他们的孩子的成绩将得到改善。但是，这种方法并未认识到，对于许多低收入，少数族裔和移民家庭，家庭与教育者之间的社会文化和语言差异使这种从学校到家庭的信息流和影响力充斥。文化上的误解和等级制的权力结构常常使教育者无法获得有关家庭实践和惯例，家庭的经验知识以及儿童失学生活其他方面的潜在有力信息。这种寻求信息的态度和做法可以构成参与和有意义的家庭参与计划的基础，并且可以转化为文化上可持续的课程，以反映孩子们在课堂上的日常生活。通过破坏现有的权力结构，寻求跨越文化界限，并将家庭参与框架化为强调从家到学校，开端计划工作人员和家长的领导人，在这个试点方案的描述如图所示，由家庭如何促进孩子的入学准备和成功在他们的预期的转变。他们寻求为所有人营造一种文化上包容和热情的环境。本文将共同描述他们的工作，以寻求其他与家庭互动的早期儿童从业者的利益。