Chapter 1: Reflect, Connect, Collaborate, Lead: Family Engagement Core Competencies

Before you begin reading the many ideas within this chapter, and this book, take a minute to reflect on your own experiences and guiding beliefs about family, school, and community partnerships. What does family, school, and community engagement mean to you? Who benefits from family, school, and community partnerships and why are they important? What are the most effective ways to engage families and community partners?

Throughout this book, we hope you will return to these questions, and consider how your responses to them shift and grow. In this chapter, we explore what family and community engagement is, why teaching with a family and community lens matters, and the key competencies that educa- tors can develop and practice throughout their careers to do this work well.