In many European countries legislation has given parents an increased role especially in school choice and influencing school life. In the past, demands for greater parental participation were guided by the call for greater democratization in schools. Currently, the pedagogical perspective is emphasized, i.e. not “separate responsibility” but “shared responsibility” for learning. As a result, parents are increasingly expected to be active partners at school-level as well as more generally in their children’s educational and learning processes. Whereas parental involvement policies tend to have a ‘one size fits all’ approach, schools need to be aware that different groups of parents have varied expectations about parental involvement, and may experience structural constraints.

In this symposium the discussion about parental involvement will be embedded within four different discourses: (1) discourse about parental involvement and student assessment, (2) neoliberal discourse about competent and ‘good’ parents and the competition between schools to reach such parents, (3) discourse about democratization and active citizenship about getting parents involved in school activities and (4) heterogeneity discourse about affluent and well-educated parents who have the resources to support their children in a way that the school expects from them on the one hand, and parents from lower socio-economic and migrant backgrounds who may have limited resources. These ‘hard to reach’-parents are often viewed as deficient by teachers and schools, and many programs/interventions are carried out to get them more involved.

These four discourses existing in many European countries make evident that there are several tensions and challenges for parental involvement. On the one hand, it seems quite necessary to get parents more involved so that all children are supported in their learning, on the other hand such an involvement can be seen more critically as a way to discipline parents or as a rhetoric to conceal existing economic and structural differences in society.

In this symposium eight papers will take different national perspectives into account to discuss tensions and challenges deriving from the national background to get parents more involved and results from national research projects.

The symposium seeks to provide critical insights into parental involvement across a range of European countries to identify the challenges in this field. For each European country three aspects will be emphasized:

a)       the national background of parental involvement (legislation, rights and duties of parents, national policy about parental involvement),

b)      existing national research on parental involvement and

c)       research projects which cover the topic, eg focus on how parents are addressed, on social and ethnic differences, view on teachers on parents and parents on teachers and school.

Key-words: parental involvement, role of parents, national discourses, parent-teacher-collaboration, heterogeneity

References

Bastiani, J. (1996). Home and school: Building a better partnership. London, UK: National Consumer Council.

Carvalho, M.E. (2009). Rethinking Family-School Relations: A Critique of Parental Involvement in Schooling. New York & London: Routledge.

Crozier, G. (2000). Parents and Schools: partners or protagonists? Oakhill: Trentham Books.

Killus, D. & Paseka, A. (2016). Eltern als Partner, Zulieferer oder Kunden von Schule? Empirische Befunde zum Verhältnis von Elternhaus und Schule. [Parents as Partner, Supporter or consumers of School) Empirical Evidence about the Relation between Parents and School]. Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung [Journal for Educational Research], 6 (2), 151-168.

Lareau, A. (2000). Home advantage: Social class and parental intervention in elementary educa­tion. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

OECD (2012). Parental Involvement in Selected PISA Countries and Economies. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 73, OECD Publishing. 

Bastiani, J. (1996). Home and school: Building a better partnership. London, UK: National Consumer Council. Carvalho, M.E. (2009). Rethinking Family-School Relations: A Critique of Parental Involvement in Schooling. New York & London: Routledge. Crozier, G. (2000). Parents and Schools: partners or protagonists? Oakhill: Trentham Books. Killus, D. & Paseka, A. (2016). Eltern als Partner, Zulieferer oder Kunden von Schule? Empirische Befunde zum Verhältnis von Elternhaus und Schule. [Parents as Partner, Supporter or consumers of School) Empirical Evidence about the Relation between Parents and School]. Zeitschrift für Bild-ungsforschung [Journal for Educational Research], 6 (2), 151-168. Lareau, A. (2000). Home advantage: Social class and parental intervention in elementary educa¬tion. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. OECD (2012). Parental Involvement in Selected PISA Countries and Economies. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 73, OECD Publishing.