Students and their families make part of various communities outside of school, including, but

not limited to, faith groups, performance ensembles, ethnic clusters, intellectual study

collectives, and more. 

By recognizing the wealth of knowledge that exists in these organized

bodies, educators have the opportunity to enhance student learning by empowering folks other

than school staff to present their expertise as legitimate sources of information. Drawing from the

frameworks of critical pedagogy (Giroux, 1991), reality pedagogy (Emdin, 2016), and mattering

(Love, 2019), this presentation will begin with a justification for integrating community voices in

school-based instruction and activities. Afterwards, participants will engage in an interactive

planning workshop where they will explore and answer the following questions:

● What communities (faith, artistic, intellectual, professional, etc.) beyond the school

building are our students and families a part of?

● What knowledge and skills do students and families learn, share, and develop by being

members of these communities?

● How does the learning that occurs in these communities coincide with the content of our

curriculum (core, SEL, enrichment, professional learning, family engagement, etc.)?

● How can we create spaces within our school sites for members of these communities to

come present as content experts?

The session will end with voluntary peer sharing and feedback.