Other Kinds of Families

Turner-Vorbeck and Marsh contend that the vast diversity found in schools and society today suggests an urgent need to reconsider the ways in which families are currently represented and addressed in school curriculum and culture. In this important volume, they provide critical and theoretical analyses combined with narrative experiences to address such issues as multigenerational views of the schooling experiences of immigrant families, the educational needs of gay and lesbian families, the representation of adoption and adoptive families in children’s literature, and the experiences of homeless students and their families with the educational system.

Essential reading for everyone interested in building more inclusive communities, this book:

• Looks at families that diverge from the so-called norm, including single parent, multiracial, foster, adoptive, blended, LGBTQ, and immigrant families.
• Features a varied group of authors, including teachers, students, parents, principals, school counselors, and professors.
• Offers examples of how both school and university personnel have responded to incorporating all family types into the school community.
• Provides guidance to help readers effect positive and appropriate change in their own classrooms and communities.
• Includes questions for reflection and discussion at the end of each chapter.

Tammy Turner-Vorbeck is a visiting professor of teacher education at Wabash College. Monica Miller Marsh is an associate professor of education at DeSales University.

“Other Kinds of Families will help teachers to avoid making mistakes in their work with many different types of family diversity, and will provide the knowledge and ideas important to working with all families.”
—Carl A. Grant, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Teachers, researchers, and policymakers will find thought-provoking ideas, engaging stories, and practical strategies for including those who have typically been excluded from the conversation.
—Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“Other Kinds of Families will enlarge your sense of humanity, encourage you to rethink the meaning and importance of our most intimate relationships, and change forever the way you see families—everyone else's and your own.”
—William Ayers, University of Illinois at Chicago