Turner-Vorbeck and Marsh contend that the vast diversity found in schools and society today suggests an urgent need to reconsider the ways in which families are currently represented and addressed in school curriculum and culture. In this important volume, they provide critical and theoretical analysis combined with narrative experiences to address such issues as multigenerational views of the schooling experiences of immigrant families, the educational needs of gay and lesbian families, the representation of adoption and adoptive families in children's literature, and the experiences of...

This practical resource will help educators to identify, address, and meet the needs of the diverse families in today's classrooms. It is the first book to critically examine how families are represented in the media, schools, and other institutions and apply that information to build effective home-school partnerships. The authors examine how different relationships between families and teachers are defined by discourses that circulate through formal and informal curricula. They explore how families and educators can collectively reconceptualize these conversations to create positive...