Parent participation in schools: Limits, logics and possibilities. Third sector organizations, immigrant families and special education

• Autores: Alejandro Paniagua Rodríguez
• Directores de la Tesis: Silvia Carrasco Pons (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ( España ) en 2015
• Idioma: inglés
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Antoni Tort Bardolet (presid.), Marta Bertran Tarrés (secret.), Mariana Conceiçao Dias (voc.)
• Materias:
  • Demografía
    • Demografía histórica
      • Migraciones
  • Pedagogía
    • Organización y planificación de la educación
      • Educación especial: minusválidos y deficientes mentales
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en:  TDX  DDD 
• Resumen

  • The importance of the participation of families in schools has long been a key idea to discuss educational problems and to advance new reforms and initiatives. During the last years, this notion has received a renewed attention due to the financial crisis, the increase of diversity in classrooms and the growing pressure directed towards schools to improve their effectiveness.

    This research discusses the scope and logics of the ideology of participation in diverse contexts where immigrant families are requested or expected to participate more and better. First, analyzing the role of PAs in Catalonia, through the action-research project launched by FaPaC. Second, evaluating the improvement of family-school relationships in London, through two initiatives leaded by Day-Mer, a Kurdish community organization. And third, exploring the experiences of immigrant families with children labeled has having special education needs. At the same time, the research discusses more broadly the role of Third Sector Organizations in supporting education and the intersection of special education and cultural diversity.

    The findings highlight the scarcity of opportunities available for parents to truly participate in schools, even when this participation is supported by external organizations or teachers. The existence of strong institutional and bureaucratic barriers, the persistence of prejudices towards immigrant families and the lack of coherence between public concerns, specific initiatives and school dynamics, render a `rhetoric¿ of participation that transfers the blame for school failure to families and marginalizes the analysis of power, class inequality and race.

    Finally, the research also stresses the possibilities to go beyond this rhetoric and use the idea of participation to improve schools. In particular, the collective participation of parents, supported by third sector organizations, emerges as a promising way to raise common interests between families and teachers, seeking to improve educational practice and policy.¿