Advancing Professional Development for Family, School and Community Engagement: A Conversation Regarding NAFSCE’s Family Core Engagement Core Competencies

Abstract

What follows is a transcript of a conversation that was focused on the new family engagement core competency recommendations from the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE). While it is not new to see specific recommendations for family engagement emerge – generally, these recommendations tend to be prescriptive in nature, grounded in Euro-centric ideologies, and school-centered. NAFSCE, however, has created competencies that, instead of centering what parents and families ought to be doing, emphasize power sharing and the transformation of traditional family, school, and community engagement practices. In addition, NAFSCE’s work has implications for all family-facing professionals, not just teachers and school administrators. Beyond the core competencies, we learn in our conversation more about how NAFSCE’s work around family, school, and community engagement is grounded in social justice and equity. This is especially critical given the fast-moving anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ policies being passed and proposed nationwide. We invite our readers to consider how we might leverage the work of NAFSCE to more authentically center families and communities within family, school, and community engagement.