Partnership and conflict between parents and schools: how are schools reacting to the new participation law in Flanders (Belgium)?

Content Provider	Scilit
Author	Dom, Leen Verhoeven, Jef C.
Copyright Year	2006
Description	This paper explores the relationship between parents and schools. Over the last 30 years the importance attached to parents' views on education has increased significantly throughout the Western world. Policy‐makers encourage parental participation and involvement through the creation of councils in which parents have a say. In Flanders in Belgium in 2004 a new participation law was passed. We study the impact of this law on the micropolitical relations between parents, school heads and teachers. We conducted in‐depth interviews with teachers, parents, school heads and members of the organizing body in four primary schools and observed parents' gatherings. Starting from the partnership–conflict opposition, we focus on the functioning of the parents' associations and the way parents' associations, school heads and teachers are dealing with this new law. We found that the parent–school relationship differs greatly from school to school. While the socio‐economic middle class predominates in the four parents' associations, the results show that parental empowerment is enhanced only in those schools with mainly socio‐economically weak families.
Related Links	https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/34301429.pdf
Ending Page	597
Page Count	31
Starting Page	567
ISSN	02680939
e-ISSN	14645106
DOI	10.1080/02680930600866132
Journal	Journal of Education Policy
Issue Number	5
Volume Number	21
Language	English
Publisher	Informa UK Limited
Publisher Date	2006-09-01
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Ethnic Studies Partnership Functioning Teachers Flanders Belgium Conflict Parents School Heads
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Education