Community Care and Concern: Moving Outside School to Build Connections

  • Larisa Callaway-Cole CSU Channel Islands
  • Valeria Huerta
  • Blanca Ramirez
  • Karina Ramirez
  • Ariana Seyssel
  • Brooke Shaffer
  • Emily Wilcox

Abstract

This paper explores ways of reconceptualizing family engagement as occurring outside of the classroom. Through attendance at MICOP (Mixteco Indígena Community Organizing Project) meetings, a Family and Community Engagement course learn new ways of building community. Using student voices from a pre-service teacher education classroom, stories of family, culture, and care are documented.

Author Biographies

Larisa Callaway-Cole, CSU Channel Islands

Larisa Callaway-Cole is a lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at CSU Channel Islands. She is completing her Ed.D. in educational leadership through CODEL, CI’s joint doctoral program with Fresno State University. Larisa is interested in the importance of family in young children’s lives, and her dissertation investigates families’ love as transformational and resistant in our current sociopolitical climate.

Valeria Huerta

Valeria Huerta is a student at CSU Channel Islands and she is completing her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Studies. Valeria is interested in working with younger children as she has done a lot of service learning with preschool children. She eventually wants to be a preschool teacher.

Blanca Ramirez

Blanca Ramirez is an Early Childhood Studies major at CSU Channel Islands, graduating May 2019. She is currently working in an infants and toddlers classroom and hopes to pursue her career in elementary education. Blanca loves helping her community and has a goal of working with Spanish speaking families to provide more resources and services.

Karina Ramirez

Karina Ramirez is a recent graduate of the Early Childhood Studies program at CSU Channel Islands. Karina recently welcomed her own child into the world. Karina is interested in pursuing graduate studies. Ariana Seyssel is completing her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Studies at CSU Channel Islands and plans on continuing her education as an Education Specialist. She believes in the importance of building relationships with families and strives to create an inclusive classroom for students of all abilities.

Ariana Seyssel

Ariana Seyssel is completing her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Studies at CSU Channel Islands and plans on continuing her education as an Education Specialist. She believes in the importance of building relationships with families and strives to create an inclusive classroom for students of all abilities.

Brooke Shaffer

Brooke Shaffer is a student at CSU Channel Islands, and she is working on completing her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Studies. Brooke is interested in working with children with special needs and wants to incorporate Learning Stories into her special education classroom.

Emily Wilcox

Emily Wilcox is a graduating senior at CSU Channel Islands in the Early Childhood Studies program. She has a great passion for supporting and nurturing young children and their desire to discover and learn about the world. In the future, she desires to open an in-home childcare center to serve families within her local community.

Published
2018-09-19
How to Cite
Callaway-Cole, L., Huerta, V., Ramirez, B., Ramirez, K., Seyssel, A., Shaffer, B., & Wilcox, E. (2018). Community Care and Concern: Moving Outside School to Build Connections. Allies for Education, 2(1). Retrieved from https://journals.calstate.edu/afe/article/view/3277