The role of parents in special education: the notion of partnership revised

Abstract

While parents' role in schools has attracted growing attention in educational research, very few researchers have directed any interest to the role of parents in special education. In this paper, we focus upon the concept of partnership, relating our analyses of interviews with classroom teachers and parents to the notion of partnership as described and explored by different researchers. Our main focus is on how teachers describe and perceive their relation to parents, and how parents experience their relation to the school. Our analysis shows that the relationship between teachers and parents seems to contain some other features than those reflected in the existing literature on parents' role in education. To extract some of these features based on our data, we construct two roles: parents as 'implementers' and parents as 'clients', which we believe better captures the distinctive feature of the role of parents in special education. 'Implementer' implies parents being given responsibility for following up aims and measures set by the school, with very little possibility to influence how things are being done. 'Clients' occur when teachers see parents as part of their child's problem. Both roles place parents in a subordinate and powerless relationship with the school, as a result of a strong inequality of power between parents and schools. This inequality is caused, among other factors, by the socially defined power relationship between laypersons and professionals, and the stigma attached to special education which restrains parents from forming any collective resistance.

Meeting in the middle? A study of parent–professional partnerships

“…The potential reciprocal benefits of partnerships have been regularly reported (the value of parent-professional partnerships has been referenced in assorted studies (Jenkinson 1998;Fylling and Sandvin 1999;Mittler 2000;Croll 2001;Rogers et al 2006). In its most effective form, it represents a synthesis of collaborative dialogue and shared expertise, combining the professional insight of teachers, educational psychologists and others with the informed social networks of parents, other family members and associated support groups (Jelly et al 2000).…”

Tensions in Home–School Partnerships: The Different Perspectives of Teachers and Parents of Students With Learning Barriers

“…However, once home is viewed as an extension of the school, or part of the range of the medical or the therapists' professional advice, then home, it could be argued, becomes a 'public' site and subject to professional scrutiny. This blurring of boundaries is not an uncommon feature, past and present, of partnerships between professionals and the parents of students with learning barriers (de Carvalho, 2001;Fylling & Sandvin, 1999;Todd, 2003;Tomlinson, 1996;Turnbull & Turnbull, 1990). Parents may be especially sensitive to being categorised or labelled from a 'deficit perspective' by the teacher or other school personnel (Hoover-Dempsey et al, 2005;Porter, 2008) and reluctant to subject themselves or their child to potential disapproval or judgment (de Carvalho, 2001;Fylling & Sandvin, 1999;Reay, 2009;Vincent & Tomlinson, 1997).…”

Do Teachers Recognise Complaints from Parents, and If Not, Why Not?

“…In turn, this may lead teachers not to take complaints from parents seriously, or even not to recognise approaches from parents as complaints. On the other hand, parents can claim that they are experts on their own children, and that teachers should therefore listen to what they have to say (Fylling & Sandvin, 1998).…”