Asking, listening, and learning: Toward a more thorough method of inquiry in home-school relations

The article provides a rationale and description of a constructivist parent teacher approach used to support preservice teachers' understandings of relationships between home and school. Using a critical theoretical framing of policy, social science, and enacted curriculum, the authors ask readers to consider moving away from proscribed models of home school relationships to a partnering lens which allows teachers to view their initial communications as a crucial teacher-learning endeavor. With this approach, preservice teachers are constructing their understanding of parents' views of children, uncovering resources and parents ideals, and empowering themselves to deconstruct/reconstruct images of families in a more just framework. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.