Challenging Dominant Discourses of Home-School Partnerships in Indigenous Communities

Abstract

All children risk educational disadvantage when families are disengaged in their learning to read. Worldwide, Indigenous families are least well positioned to assist their children in English literacy. This chapter outlines a methodology whereby Indigenous Leadership Partners work directly with school principals to encourage families to support and extend schools’ efforts to enhance children’s reading. The methodology is being implemented and tested in a research project across three Australian states, in 45 schools with high indigenous populations. The methodology has implications for a sustainable approach to social justice leadership through community-supported reading education, especially in rural and remote locations given the high levels of principal and teacher turnover in those schools.