Building Communities of Learners A Collaboration Among Teachers, Students, Families, and Community

This popular text shows how teachers can create partnerships with parents and students that facilitate participation in the schools while also validating home culture and family concerns and aspirations. It reflects current research and theory in several areas related to literacy development, including family literacy, bilingual and multicultural education, critical pedagogy, participatory research, cooperative learning, and feminist perspectives. Teachers of students who are immigrants, non-native speakers of English, and members of marginalized groups will find this book especially pertinent.

Contents: A.F. Ada, Foreword. Preface. Part I:Background: A Tapestry of Voices and Ideas. An Overview of Family Involvement in Education and a Rationale for Building Communities of Learners. Part II:Initiating Home and School Partnerships. Teachers as Facilitators of Home-School Relationships. Home and School Partnerships Within a Transformative Education Context. Dialogue and Co-Authorship of Books. Part III:Telling Our Stories. Participatory Research. A Participatory Research Project With Parents of First Graders. Dialogues With Parents About Education and Life. Co-Authorship of Books Based on Dialogues About Education and Life. Part IV:Generating New Ideas: Empowerment Through Dialogue and the Creation of Books. Students, Families, and Communities Creating Knowledge. Additional Themes for Student, Family, and Community Books. Part V:Exemplary Programs for Building Communities of Learners. Exemplary Programs for Building Communities of Learners. Conclusion. J. Cummins, Afterword.