Culturally Responsive Family Partnerships

Due to the pandemic, parents and teachers experienced a role reversal. Parents found themselves as teachers and teachers had to pivot to find new ways to connect with families.

As students and families re-enter schools, it is crucial to establish collaboration between teachers and families. This requires new approaches that address racial inequalities while focusing on racial equity and the collective trauma of the pandemic. This session will share strategies for partnering with families, building equity-focused school communities, and creating strong alliances with families. 

Objective:
1. Awareness of educator implicit bias
2. Establishing family-school communication and collaboration
3. How to be an ally to families, specifically with Black and Brown families
4. Learn new strategies for building relationships with diverse families

$25
Includes 2 clock hours

Audience: Educators, Administrators, Related Services 

Meet the instructor:

kristen ainslie

Kristin is a partner manager at the Haring Center for Inclusive Education. She received her Masters in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Washington.  

Kristin’s work focuses on helping program leaders and teachers create system-wide changes to confidently include diverse learners in school settings. She leads professional development trainings on inclusive best practices and coaches teachers on innovative strategies that help all children learn and thrive. 

Prior to joining the Haring Center, Kristin worked as a preschool and kindergarten teacher, graduate student supervisor, social skills group teacher and parent educator. She also worked as a curriculum specialist on several national projects, including the Head Start Center for Inclusion and the National Center for Quality Teaching and Learning. In addition to her work with Professional Development and Training, Kristin works on the Family Support Team at the Experimental Education Unit. 

Zoe is an inclusion coach at the Haring Center for Inclusive Education. She received her Master’s in Special Education from the University of Washington and National Board Certification from the State of Washington.

Zoe’s work focuses on supporting elementary schools with inclusive practices at the classroom and whole school level. She works with individual teachers, teacher teams and additional school staff to increase understanding of how to create and maintain an inclusive learning environment that is accessible to students. While Zoe is an educator with a focus on special education, she understands the intersectionality and the acknowledgement of how race, ability, language, gender and socio-economic status effect student learning.

Prior to joining the Haring Center, Zoe taught in inclusive Kindergarten and Preschool ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program) classrooms. She was also a special education resource room teacher at an elementary school for many years, focusing on including students with special needs in the general education classroom and collaborating and providing training to general education teachers. During that time, Zoe helped to lead the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support team to further support teachers to understand their students learning and progress. Additionally, Zoe has led community-based social skills groups for many years and has supported programs to collaborate with families receiving state support for positive parenting practices.

If you have questions or comments, please contact the Haring Center Professional Development and Training team at haringpd@uw.edu.