Abstract
Across the country, K-2 elementary schools continue to follow outdated family literacy models that position parents through the lens of a deficit model. This study explores a new theoretical framework, FLAIR: Family Literacy with Adult Interactive Roles. Qualitative procedures with quantitative supports were used during the three phases of the study: (a) Phase 1: Pre-workshop home-visit assessments, (b) Phase 2: Parent workshop implementation, and (c) Phase 3: Post-workshop home-visit assessments. Parent-child reading interactions were examined to see how they changed over time and if parent learning transferred into the home literacy environment (HLE) following participation in a series of parent workshops. The study revealed three major findings: (a) when parents attend workshops and learn interactive reading strategies to enhance their child’s attention to the text, to promote interactive reading, and to support their child’s comprehension, significant parent learning and transfer into the HLE occurs, (b) parents are capable of learning and attempting the use of school-based literacy strategies in the HLE; however, they neither implement them in the same way they are experienced at workshops, nor use the same academic terms or language in the HLE, and (c) interrelationships between parent workshop learning, parent learning attempts in the HLE, and parent awareness of their child’s learning increase parent-child dialogue during reading experiences. This study extends essential areas for family literacy programming at the K-2 elementary level that are in need of further research, including parent-child workshop frameworks that position parents as active participants and that investigate the integration of each family’s HLE, structure, and culture.