Family-school relationship in the Italian infant schools: not only a matter of cultural diversity

Abstract

BackgroundThe family-school relationship is a crucial component in achieving the optimum scholastic experience of pupils. Such a relationship is often described in somewhat reductive binary terms of collaboration/non-collaboration. However, the significant presence of families from different cultural backgrounds in Italy since the 1990s demonstrates how multiple types of rapport with schools can generate effective styles of relationship. Infant schools constitute a privileged location where such dynamics can be investigated. Firstly, because they exhibit the highest percentage of families that have moved to Italy from other countries (33.9%); secondly, because they represent the initial stage when school and family first come into contact, playing an “imprinting role” for all subsequent scholastic phases. Based on in-depth interviews with infant school teachers and parents of pupils coming from different backgrounds, this research investigated different factors that influence family-school relations: (1) interpersonal factors, that include listening skills, emotions and relational styles of parents or teachers; (2) structural factors, that are related to the living conditions of families and to the whole social welfare system in Italy; (3) cultural factors, that bring together values, lifestyles and educational cultures of both parents and teachers.ResultsThe idea regarding the inadequate distinction based on a dichotomy between Italian and migrant families seemed to be confirmed: Italian families and migrant families are characterized by many common features as well as by many inner differentiations. The results of this study suggest that the family-school relationship evolves into a communication framework that encompasses both obstacles and resources.ConclusionsThe results of our research suggest that the relationship between parents and teachers in Italian infant schools is influenced by different factors, not only cultural ones. All of these factors are related to both parents and teachers, and they should be taken into account when investigating this topic.

Tiempo escolar

“…Chiappe y Rodríguez (2017) analizan los problemas en la calidad de la educación desde la falta de encuentro entre los agentes educativos. Respecto de los estudiantes y profesores, los autores señalan que los primeros sólo ven lo que sus profesores les enseñan, y los profesores sólo ven lo que los alumnos hacen en las clases y descuidan los contextos extraescolares y la información que está más allá de las aulas; los directivos se insertan en un flujo de información que va más allá del aula, en un mundo cambiante y globalizado; por último, encontramos que la familia está ausente de la vida escolar (Willemse et al, 2018), aunque su participación ha sido identificada como clave para el éxito educativo (Granata et al, 2016).…”