This week’s reading/video content reminds me of what I have observed at my field placement site, the John H. Taggart School and its afterschool program with the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia (CaGP).
Over the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to speak with Sam, the afterschool program leader, about her experiences working within Taggart School, and I also attended the school’s Fall Festival last Friday alongside children and parents. Taking part in that event helped me better understand what it means to be a member of a close-knit community. During my interview with Sam, she explained that although the neighborhood is low-resourced, she loves building relationships with the children and their families because the community is interdependent; the adults, children, and the organization know and support one another. At the festival, I saw this relational ecosystem come alive. Despite irregular and busy work schedules, parents still contributed time, homemade dishes, and their presence as a mutual way of giving back to Taggart School and CaGP. The event was not merely a social gathering but it was an act of shared stewardship.
This experience reminded me of the role of parental involvement in education and connected directly to this week’s readings. García et al. discuss how many schools perpetuate deficit ideologies regarding immigrant and emergent bilingual families. Parents are often stigmatized as disinterested or incapable simply because they do not conform to school-approved behaviors of involvement. Such frameworks overlook care, advocacy, and instructional support that families enact at home and across community spaces. The chapter also shows how home languages are frequently devalued, even though linguistic analysis demonstrates their sophistication and expressive capacity. The linguistic racism, as the authors argue, harms children by taking them away from their epistemological roots and cultural identities.
This experience reminds me of the role of parental involvement in education and connects directly to this week’s readings. García et al. discuss how many schools perpetuate deficit ideologies regarding immigrant and emergent bilingual families. Parents are often stigmatized as disinterested or incapable simply because they do not conform to school-approved behaviors of involvement. Schools ignore the rich forms of care, advocacy, and instructional support that families provide at home and in the community. The chapter also illustrates how home languages are routinely devalued, yet linguistic analysis demonstrates their cognitive sophistication and cultural richness. Linguistic racism therefore harms children by separating them from their roots.
At the Fall Festival, I reconsidered these theoretical points as I observed interactions between parents and the Taggart School/CaGP community. Even if many parents might not able to assist their children with homework in traditional ways, their participation in the event, their conversations with teachers and program staff, and their efforts to check in about their children’s wellbeing are all meaningful forms of engagement. I know that the parents reach out to the school and to CaGP to understand their children’s needs, talk about academic and social progress, and collaborate with school's counselors to support students’ educational journeys regardless of their own educational backgrounds. These interactions reflect a kind of engagement that is relational, proactive, and invested.
Moreover, the video “Equity in Practice: Multilingual Learners with Disabilities” emphasizes that when schools develop systems and supports, they should create intersectional policies that consider the multiple identities and structural conditions shaping students’ lives. It highlights the importance of establishing schools as safe zones for marginalized parents, which also reminds me of what I have observed at Taggart School, my field site. As Sam mentioned in our interview, the neighborhood surrounding the school is under-resourced and faces safety concerns such as drug activity and gun violence. In response, Taggart School and the CaGP afterschool program have created an environment where families can feel secure physically, socially, and emotionally when sending their children there. Parents regularly reach out to school counselors and CaGP staff to discuss their children’s struggles, ask questions, and request guidance without fear of judgment or surveillance. In this sense, Taggart functions not only as an educational institution but also as a trusted community hub – a space where families can seek support, voice concerns, and build supportive relationships.