Teachers’ Collaborative Inquiry about Teacher-Family Communication: A Design Experiment

Teacher-family communication is an important, yet complex, professional responsibility. In this study, I examined how knowledge-of-practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999) of teacher-family communication might support teachers’ fulfillment of that responsibility. I used design methodology (Cobb, Confrey, diSessa, Lehrer, & Schauble, 2003) to develop an inquiry model to support three teacher teams in the professional learning community (PLC) in one urban elementary school. Teachers designed communication using principles of social semiotics (Halliday, 1978; Kalantzis & Cope, 2012; Kress, 2009) and culturally responsive family literacy models (Edwards & Piazza, 2013; Wiley, 1996) and used feedback from families to reflect on and analyze its effectiveness. I developed a theoretical model of inquiry about teacher-family communication design that includes 6 types of activities. Three types of activities related to phases of inquiry and directly supported teachers’ knowledge-of-practice development (i.e., designing, enacting, and reflecting & analyzing). Three types of activities propelled the cycles of inquiry (i.e., (re)imagining, developing, and planning for collaboration). In addition, analysis revealed four features of the intervention that supported structural and conceptual integration into the ecology of the PLC: (a) coupling inquiry with school rhythms; (b) supporting design through development; (c) showing, not telling messages; (d) incorporating family feedback. A Teacher-Family Communication Knowledge-of-Practice Rubric was developed to analyze messages about literacy, stances towards families, design, and context of teacher talk and instances of communication with families.