An emerging lens for understanding parental allyship: Why we need to challenge our understanding of experience with a conceptual lens on disability identity

An emerging lens for understanding parental allyship: Why we need to challenge our understanding of experience with a conceptual lens on disability identity

Parent-school partnership is a significant area of educational research because of the role it plays in successful outcomes for students. This interpersonal dynamic relies on positive communication and shared decision making between families and school to also enhance the well-being of students. Existing literature shows that for parents of children with dyslexia, the parent-school partnership is framed by their role as an advocate and ally for their child. However, the social model of disability exposes how the experiences children with dyslexia and their parents have when interacting with their child’s school are often fraught with difficulty.

With the current policy emphasis on positive relationships between parents and schools, there needs to be a reimagining of the way subjective experience is interpreted and how parents make meaning from interactions with their child’s school. For a child with dyslexia and their parents, the child’s disability identity will heavily influence the nature of the meaning made. Extending on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model and Dewey’s philosophical understandings of experience, this paper explains how the interpretations and perceptions that parents will have of their experiences as allies in the education context. Specifically, it considers the proximity of the experience to the child’s dyslexic identity and presents a model of primary, vicarious and primary-adjacent experience.

Drawing on initial data collection from early interviews as part of an ongoing project with children with dyslexia and their parents about potential microaggressions within the educational context, this presentation will offer researchers and practitioners new ways to view environmental and interpersonal interactions of children and parents within the educational setting. More specifically, an emerging view will be presented on how the proximity to their child’s dyslexic identity shapes parental allyship. The conceptual viewpoint allows for a deeper contemplation of the nature of experience for parents acting as an ally in their child’s educational journey.

This presentation will provide opportunities for researchers and educators reflect on the nature of experience for parents acting as an ally. Given current policy emphasis advocating for education settings to embrace inclusive education practices these emerging findings could enhance how parent-school partnerships transform the well-being outcomes for both children with dyslexia and their parents. With a deeper understanding of the experiences of dyslexic students and their parents, researchers and educators will be better able to respond more empathically to the specific learning and well-being needs of children with dyslexia and build more productive relationships with their parents.

There are no files associated with this item.