Finding Joy in Communication with Families

Family engagement is a strong predictor of children’s academic success and communication is a key component of engagement (McWayne et al., 2016). Yet, little research has focused on families’ and schools’ communication practices. This inquiry focused on three K-12 teachers and considers the joyful opportunities afforded in their home-school communication. By engaging in Narrative Inquiry, we unravel the participant teachers’ experiences and preferences in communicating with families through a lens of joy and consider the barriers faced when maintaining joy. Key moments of joy were sparked when providing positive communication, developing systems/strategies for continual communication, and in building relationships.