Re-examining Indigenous Conceptualizations of Family and Community Involvement

Abstract

In this article, I highlight the importance of schools and educators serving Indigenous children and youth to draw upon the power of family and community engagement that is culturally defined and guided by Indigenous values and knowledge systems. In addressing these concepts, I draw upon my own personal narratives and current research with American Indian families in an urban setting. The expectation of this research was to develop an understanding of how parents respond to a process of constructing healthy and purposeful relations between the home and school for student success among American Indian families living in an urban setting. Throughout, I use the terms Native American, American Indian, and Indigenous peoples interchangeably. Native American and American Indian refers specifically to Indigenous peoples of the United States. When I use the term Indigenous peoples, it is intended to reflect people joining in the global effort to decolonize their worldviews and reposition our epistemology and ontology.