Jennifer McCarthy Foubert

General Interests

My scholarship examines and resists the ways white supremacy operates in K-12 schools, particularly in practices and policies of family-school partnership.  

I love co-creating knowledge about liberatory pedagogy with preservice and practicing teachers. Before pursuing PhD studies and turning my attention to teacher education and qualitative research, I taught Kindergarten and K-5 special education in Seattle Public Schools, and worked as an education coordinator for a Head Start preschool program. 

Years at Knox: 2017 to present

Education

Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, 2017, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.Ed., Curriculum and Instruction, 2010, University of Washington
B.A.Ed., Special Education, 2003, Gonzaga University

Teaching Interests

Critical pedagogy; critical race theory; elementary teaching methods and curriculum development; action research; sociology of education; educational policy studies; qualitative research methods

Selected Professional Accomplishments

Honors/Grants

Philip Green Wright/Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching (2021)
Dan K. Logan Peace and Justice Studies Endowment Faculty Innovation Grant (2019)

Publications

Reckoning with Racism in Family-School Partnerships: Centering Black Parents' Experiences, Teacher College Press, 2022.

"Still-restrictive equality in shared school governance: Black parents’ engagement experiences and the persistence of white supremacy in a liberal public school district." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 2020

“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t:” Black parents’ racial realist parent engagement. Race Ethnicity and Education. 2019 

Presentations

Blocking white supremacy through expansive policy: Envisioning more liberatory family-school partnerships. At American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, (April 21-April 26, 2022).

Black parents' engagement for educational justice: Expanding the reasons we give for family-school partnerships. International Roundtable on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, (April 22, 2022).

Resisting white supremacy in the parent-teacher organization: How to find expansive equaltiy in shared school governance. At American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, (April 8- April 12, 2021).

Teaching to disrupt: Supporting and building solidarity for trouble-maker teachers. At American Educational Studies Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, (October 30-November 3, 2019). 

Who(se reality) are you teaching?: Disrupting hegemony in the teacher education “diversity” course. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada (April 5–April 9, 2019). 

Racial Realism and Parent Groups as White Property: School Engagement Narratives of 16 Black Parents. Presented at American Educational Studies Association Annual Meeting, Greenville, SC. (November 7-November 11, 2018).

Whiteness Preventing Equal Educational Opportunity: A Literature Review of White Parent Engagement. Presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX. (April 27-May 1, 2017).

The Parent Trap: Why Parent Engagement Doesn't Promise Equal Educational Opportunity (with Henry, K.L.). Presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX. (April 27-May 1, 2017).