Parent Involvement AS Education: Activist Research in Multilingual and Multicultural Urban Schools

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses an intergenerational literacy initiative for linguistically diverse parents/caregivers and their children who attend two primaryjunior and one senior-middle school in an urban setting in Ontario. We begin by outlining the conceptual bases for this activist research initiative, identifying a participatory, situated approach, where participants are themselves actors in the processes leading to educational change, as a preferred response to unprecedented multilingual and multicultural diversity in systems of formal schooling. After establishing the broad pedagogic framework for the interventionist component of the project by critically examining the notion of parent involvement in education, we provide a project overview, including objectives, program components, and pedagogical approaches. We then outline some findings from the project, elucidating the perspectives of participating parents, teachers, and students. In conclusion, we critically assess such community-referenced initiatives' potential for creating social, cultural, and economic opportunities for non-mainstream students in light of current definitions of cultural capital.