Book Review of Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies Using an Ecological Systems Framework

Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies Using an Ecological Systems Framework is in its second edition. The first edition was entitled Preparing Educators to Involve Families: Theory to Practice. Notable in the second edition’s title is the word change from involving families to engaging families. The change in wording is important, as involvement often implies one-way communication from the school toward the family, and engagement denotes a much richer concept in which a reciprocal and dynamic relationship exists between schools and families. Specifically, the book presents family engagement as a shared responsibility of parents, educators, and community entities. Such shared responsibility is co-constructed over time (birth to adulthood) and across a variety of contexts. These contexts go beyond the home and school to include a broader group including community centers, libraries, after-school programs, faith-based institutions, and so on