Karen Mapp: Effective Family Engagement Starts with Trust

Photo credit Bryce Vickmark/Harvard

A fundamental basis for researcher Karen Mapp’s work is promoting the significant role that relational trust holds in developing an effective framework for partnerships between families and schools. “One of the best ways to earn someone’s respect is to let them know you value what they say and you’re listening to them,” Mapp says, adding that meaningful action needs to follow. “You don’t just make promises you can’t keep. You don’t just say things to people just to say them.”

Mapp recognizes that trust is a two-way street. It is a foundational element in the framework that Mapp designed to engage parents in their children’s learning. The Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family School Partnerships builds family capacity to engage in student learning, helping to create a welcoming culture for schools and families to work together. This framework described in depth at “Family Engagement Starts with Trust” was designed with the U.S. Dept. of Education and the Southwest Educational Development Lab. This updated version puts building trusting relationships at the core of effective partnerships between families and schools.

Eyal Bergman, an Ed.L.D. student and former family and community engagement officer in Cajon Valley Union School District in California who worked with Mapp on the framework’s revision emphasized that the framework is designed to support family engagement so it becomes a practice; second nature to all involved – family, school and community.