Family-Centered Research: Reflections From a Zoom-Based Recording Method of Families Learning Together at Home

Abstract

Although schools are a primary focus of education research, we have long known that families are equally critical in supporting children’s learning. However, many existing studies put families in situations that share little resemblance to what family learning looks like outside of school. These limitations undermine both the quality of the research and our commitments to equity. Based on our experiences during the global health pandemic, we reflect on these limitations and offer thoughts to motivate a new vision of family learning research. Among other things, the process revealed the power of allowing families to choose how and when they engage in learning experiences together and finding ways to capture more authentic family configurations beyond the parent-child dyad.