Voices of Indigenous Parents on Learning, Class, and Literacy Practices: Agency, Authority, and Empowerment

Drawing on interviews with parents of indigenous communities, this article presents insights into indigenous parenting aspects related to inside-and-outside classroom learning, cross-cultural complexities, and literacy practices by taking perspectives of Malaysia’s indigenous parents as an example. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model on how individuals navigate complex interactions in a particular society, indigenous parents' authority and agency play important roles in navigating competing issues of indigenous learners' literacy, learning, and class. Implications on parenting practices, particularly on uplifting indigenous parents with sociocultural, learning, and literacy engagement within changing and challenging expectations of indigenous learners inside and outside their homes, are presented.