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Culturally Responsive Special Education: Using Cultural Liaisons to Increase Family Engagement

Culturally Responsive Special Education: Using Cultural Liaisons to Increase Family Engagement

Lydia Gerzel-Short, Jerae H. Kelly, Katrina A. Hovey, Yun-Ju Hsiao, Yan Wei
Copyright: © 2023 |Pages: 17
ISBN13: 9781668486511|ISBN10: 1668486512|ISBN13 Softcover: 9781668486559|EISBN13: 9781668486528
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-8651-1.ch001
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MLA

Gerzel-Short, Lydia, et al. "Culturally Responsive Special Education: Using Cultural Liaisons to Increase Family Engagement." Advocating and Empowering Diverse Families of Students With Disabilities Through Meaningful Engagement, edited by Millicent M. Musyoka and Guofeng Shen, IGI Global, 2023, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-8651-1.ch001

APA

Gerzel-Short, L., Kelly, J. H., Hovey, K. A., Hsiao, Y., & Wei, Y. (2023). Culturally Responsive Special Education: Using Cultural Liaisons to Increase Family Engagement. In M. Musyoka & G. Shen (Eds.), Advocating and Empowering Diverse Families of Students With Disabilities Through Meaningful Engagement (pp. 1-17). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-8651-1.ch001

Chicago

Gerzel-Short, Lydia, et al. "Culturally Responsive Special Education: Using Cultural Liaisons to Increase Family Engagement." In Advocating and Empowering Diverse Families of Students With Disabilities Through Meaningful Engagement, edited by Millicent M. Musyoka and Guofeng Shen, 1-17. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2023. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-8651-1.ch001

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Abstract

Families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds often feel disrespected, unheard, misunderstood, and undervalued. Extant research demonstrates that CLD families have considerably lower levels of participation in their children's education. The incongruence between families and the educational system's cultural values and practices may result in barriers limiting families' agency in educational decision-making. Families from nondominant cultures may not ascribe to the practices that guide the special education system, which reflect the dominant culture (i.e., white and middle-class). For families to be active agents in their student's educational decision-making (including special education), the barriers created by the perceptions of power imbalances must be broken down, and the onus of this task falls on the shoulders of those employed by the public school system. Culturally responsive family engagement that incorporates cultural liaisons can empower CLD families to have agency in their child's educational plan.

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