The Family-School Relationships in Europe: A Research Review
Keywords:
Benefits and difficulties, European perspective, Individual behaviour, Institutional frameworks, School-family relationship, Social orientations
Abstract
The literature on research carried out in the field and parents’ and teachers’ declarations all point in the same direction: good collaboration between home and school is useful to the child-student for his education and learning. Despite this, parent-teacher relationships in Europe (and elsewhere), from Spain to Sweden, from Ireland to Greece, and from Italy to the Czech Republic, represent an unresolved issue. This is a complex relationship that calls into play various social spheres: macro (social), intermediary (institutional) and micro (relational); in fact, there are as many diverse realities as there are schools. In Europe, the relationship
between individual behaviours (parents vs. teachers), social orientations (neoliberalism) and institutional frameworks (school markets) appears significant: scarce parental participation, lack of adequate forms of home-school communications, and the need to make investments in
parent and teacher training. Nevertheless, family and school are called on to create a dialogue in order to contribute to the processes of training new generations. They both need each other in order to carry out that task in the best way. This paper presents and discusses the results of a theoretical analysis conducted on the basis of the international literature
concerning research on the school-family relationship, with particular attention on the situation of different European countries, and concludes with suggestions for some practical improvements.
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References
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Auduc, J.-L. (2007). Les relations parents-enseignant à l’école primaire. Creteil: Scérén.
Baker, D. P., & Stevenson, D. L. (1986). Mothers’ strategies for children school achievement:
Managing the transition to high school. Sociology of Education, 59, 156–166.
Bastiani, J. (1993). Parents as partners. Genuine progress or empty rethoric? In P. Munn (Ed.), Parents and Schools (pp. 104–116). London: Routledge.
Bernestein, B. (1975). Class code and control. London: Routledge & Kegan Publ.
Bernhard, J. K, & Freire, M. (1999). What is my child learning at elementary school? Culturally
contested issues between teachers and Latin American families. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 31(3),
72–95.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J.G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood Press.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. C. (1976). Reproduction in education, society and culture. London: Sage.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
Carvalho, M. E. P. de (2001). Family-School relations: A critique of parental involvement in schooling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Casanova, U. (1996). “Parent involvement: A call for prudenceâ€. Educational Researcher, 25, 30–32.
Comer, J. P. (1980). School power: Implications of an intervention project. New York: The Free Press.
Comer, J. P. (1986). Parent Participation in the schools. Phi Delta Kappa, 67, 442–446.
Comer, J. P. (1988). Educating poor minority children. Scientific American, 259(5), 42–48.
Dauber, S. L., & Epstein, J. L. (1989). Parents attitudes and practices of involvement in inner-city
elementary and middle schools. Baltimore Johns Hopkins University: Center for Research on
Elementary and Middle Schools.
Deslandes, R. (Ed.) (2009). International perspectives on contexts, Communities and evaluated
innovative practices. Family-school-community partnerships. New York: Routledge.
Dewey, J. (2004). Democrazia ed educazione. Milano: Sansoni.
Dornbusch, S. M., & Glasgow, K. L. (1996). The Structural Context of Family-School Relations. In
A. Booth & J. Dunn, Family-School Links. How Do They Affect Educational Outcomes? (pp. 35–44).
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dusi, P. (2002). Une coopération antinomique. Le cas italien. Revue Internationale d’éducation, 31, 39–50.
Dusi, P. (2010a). Tessere alleanze educative. In L. Mortari (Ed.), Dire la pratica. La cultura del fare scuola (pp. 293–304). Milano: Bruno Mondadori.
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Epstein, J. L. et al. (2009). School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Your Handbook for Action. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Epstein, J. L. (1986). Parents’ reactions to teacher practices of parent involvement. The Elementary School Journal, 86, 277–294.
Epstein, J. L. (1990). School and family connections: Theory, research, and implication for integrating sociologies of education and family. In D. G. Unger & M. B. Sussman (Eds.), Families in community settings: Interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 103–113). New York: Haworth Press.
Fernández-Enguita, M. (1993). La profesión docente y la comunidad escolar: crónica de un desecuentro. Madrid: Morata.
Foucault, M. (1998). Archivio Foucault 3. Estetica dell’esistenza, etica, politica. Milano: Feltrinelli.
Gayet, D. (1999). L’école contre les parents. Paris: INRP.
Gestwicki, C. (2007). Home, school, and community relations. Thomson: New York.
González-Falcón, I., & Romero-Muñoz, A. (2010). La integración de las familias inmigrantes en la comunidad educativa. Educación y Diversidad. Revista Interuniversitaria de Investigación sobre Discapacidad e Interculturalidad, 2(4), 105–116.
González-Falcón, I., & Romero-Muñoz, A. (2011). La relazione scuola-famiglia in Spagna. Nuove sfide nella società multiculturale. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 227–267). Brescia: La Scuola.
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Haynes, N. M., & Ben-Avie, M. (1996). Parents as Full Partners in Education. In A. Booth & J. Dunn, Family-School Links. How Do They Affect Educational Outcomes? (pp. 45–55). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Henry, M. E. (1996). Parents-school collaboration: Feminist organizational structures and school
leadership. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Honneth, A. (1992). Kampf um Anerkennung. Grammatik Sozialer Konflikte. Frankfurt am Main:
Suhrkamp Verlag.
Humbeeck, B., Lahaye, W., Balsamo, A., & Pourtois, J.-P. (2006). Le partenariat entre l’école et la
famille: un projet de co-éducation entre les différents acteurs de l’éducation. Université de Mons-
Hainaut: Rapport d’Activité, C.E.R.I.S..
Huss-Keeler, R. L. (1997). Teacher perception of ethnic and linguistic minority parental involvement and its relationship to children’s language and literacy learning: A case study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13(2), 171–182.
INTO (1997). Parental involvement: Possibilities for Partnership. Dublin: Into.
Kryger, N., & Ravn, B. (2009). Homework in Denmark: What kind of links between family and
school? In R. Deslandes (Ed.), International Perspectives on Student Outcomes and Homework.
Family-School-Community Partnerships (pp. 7–24). London: Routledge.
Lahaye, W., Pourtois, J.-P., & Desmet, H. (2009). The challenge of co-education in a disadvantage
context. In R. Deslandes (Ed.), International perspectives on contexts, Communities and evaluated innovative practices. Family-school-community partnerships (pp. 82–94). New York: Routledge.
Lareau, A. (1987). Social class differences in family-school relationships: The importance of cultural capital. Sociology of Education, 60, 73–85.
Lopez, G. R., Scribner, J. D., & Mahitivanichcha, K. (2001). Redefining parent involvement: Lessons
from high-performing migrant impacted schools. American Educational Research Journal, 38(2),
253–288.
Mac Ruairc, G. (2011). “No parents beyond this pointâ€. Una riflessione critica sulla partecipazione
parentale nella scuola primaria in Irlanda. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa.
Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 141–172). Brescia: La Scuola.
Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutional organization: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340–363.
Migeot-Alvarado, J. (2002). Un marriage force? Les parents et l’école en France. Revue Internationale d’Éducation, 31, 51–63.
Osborn, M., Broadfoot, P., McNess, E., Planel, C., Ravn, B., & Triggs, P. (2003). A world of difference? Comparing learners across Europe. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Palaiologou, N., Evangelou, O., & Tsapakidou, A. (2011). Le famiglie immigrate trovano ascolto negli spazi scolastici? Il caso della Grecia. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 269-299). Brescia: La Scuola.
Papazoglou, N. (1984). School-family relations: Teachers, parents and pupils’rights. Athens: Ed.
Epikerotita.
Pati, L. (2001). Famiglia e scuola per l’educazione: dal partecipare al cooperare. La Famiglia, 205,
15–26.
Pati, L. (2008). La corresponsabilità educativa tra docenti e genitori. La Famiglia, 244, 22–29.
Pennac, D. (2008). Diario di scuola. Milano: Feltrinelli.
Perboni, G. (2009). Perle ai porci. Milano: Mondolibri.
Perregaux, C. (2008). 26 façon d’accueillir. Ville-école-intégration, 153, 57–67.
Perregaux, C., Changkakoti, N., Gremion, M., & Hutter, V. (2011). Famiglie migranti in cerca di
dialogo con l’istituzione scolastica. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 357–381). Brescia: La Scuola.
Rabusicová, M. (2009). Family-school partnership in theory and practice of the Czech schools:
Conflict between ideal and reality. In R. Deslandes (Ed.), International perspectives on contexts,
Communities and evaluated innovative practices. Family-school-community partnerships (pp. 21–36). New York: Routledge.
Ravn, B. (2005). An ambiguous relationship. Challenges and contradictions in the field of familyschool- community partnership. Questioning the discourse of partnership. In R. A. Martinez-Gonzales et al., Family-school community partnerships merging into social development (pp. 435–475). Oviedo: GrupoSM.
Ravn, B. (2011). Le relazioni casa-scuola in Danimarca. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 89–111). Brescia: La Scuola.
Smit, F., & Driessen, G. (2009). Creating effective family-school partnerships in highly diverse
contexts. Building partnership models and constructing parent typologies. In R. Deslandes (Ed.),
International perspectives on contexts, Communities and evaluated innovative practices. Family-schoolcommunity partnerships (pp. 64–81). New York: Routledge.
Swap, S. A. (1993). Developing home-school partnership. New York: Teachers College Press.
Talib, M.-T. (Ed.) (2006). Diversity: A Challenge for Education. Turku: Finnish Educational Research
Association.
Tizard, B., Mortimore, J., & Burchell, B. (1981). Involving Parents in Nursery and Infant Schools.
London: Grant McIntyre.
Useem, E. L. (1991). Student selection into course sequences in mathematics: The impact of parental involvement and school policies. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1(3), 231–250.
Useem, E. L. (1992). Middle schools and math groups: Parents’ involvement in children’s placement. Sociology of Education, 65, 263–279.
consultation discussions. Research Report 280. Helsinki: University of Helsinki, Faculty of Behavioural Science, Department of Applied Science of Education.
Auduc, J.-L. (2007). Les relations parents-enseignant à l’école primaire. Creteil: Scérén.
Baker, D. P., & Stevenson, D. L. (1986). Mothers’ strategies for children school achievement:
Managing the transition to high school. Sociology of Education, 59, 156–166.
Bastiani, J. (1993). Parents as partners. Genuine progress or empty rethoric? In P. Munn (Ed.), Parents and Schools (pp. 104–116). London: Routledge.
Bernestein, B. (1975). Class code and control. London: Routledge & Kegan Publ.
Bernhard, J. K, & Freire, M. (1999). What is my child learning at elementary school? Culturally
contested issues between teachers and Latin American families. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 31(3),
72–95.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J.G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood Press.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. C. (1976). Reproduction in education, society and culture. London: Sage.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
Carvalho, M. E. P. de (2001). Family-School relations: A critique of parental involvement in schooling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Casanova, U. (1996). “Parent involvement: A call for prudenceâ€. Educational Researcher, 25, 30–32.
Comer, J. P. (1980). School power: Implications of an intervention project. New York: The Free Press.
Comer, J. P. (1986). Parent Participation in the schools. Phi Delta Kappa, 67, 442–446.
Comer, J. P. (1988). Educating poor minority children. Scientific American, 259(5), 42–48.
Dauber, S. L., & Epstein, J. L. (1989). Parents attitudes and practices of involvement in inner-city
elementary and middle schools. Baltimore Johns Hopkins University: Center for Research on
Elementary and Middle Schools.
Deslandes, R. (Ed.) (2009). International perspectives on contexts, Communities and evaluated
innovative practices. Family-school-community partnerships. New York: Routledge.
Dewey, J. (2004). Democrazia ed educazione. Milano: Sansoni.
Dornbusch, S. M., & Glasgow, K. L. (1996). The Structural Context of Family-School Relations. In
A. Booth & J. Dunn, Family-School Links. How Do They Affect Educational Outcomes? (pp. 35–44).
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dusi, P. (2002). Une coopération antinomique. Le cas italien. Revue Internationale d’éducation, 31, 39–50.
Dusi, P. (2010a). Tessere alleanze educative. In L. Mortari (Ed.), Dire la pratica. La cultura del fare scuola (pp. 293–304). Milano: Bruno Mondadori.
Dusi, P. (2010b). Il dire dei docenti. Analisi dei risultati della ricerca qualitativa a Verona. In A. Portera, P. Dusi & B. Guidetti (Eds.), L’educazione interculturale alla cittadinanza. La scuola come laboratorio (pp. 97–112). Roma: Carocci.
Dusi, P. (2010c). Tra casa e scuola: uno sguardo in Europa. Paper presented at the National Conference “Rapporto scuola-famiglia. Istanze sociali e questioni educative†29–30 November 2010. Brescia: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
Dusi, P. (2011). Il rapporto scuola-famiglia in Italia. Alla ricerca di alleanze educative possibili. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 49–88). Brescia: La Scuola.
Eccles, J. S., & Harold, R. D. (1996). Family Involvement in Children’s and Adolescents’ Schooling. In A. Booth & J. Dunn, Family-School Links. How Do They Affect Educational Outcomes? (pp. 3–34). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Epstein, J. L. et al. (2009). School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Your Handbook for Action. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Epstein, J. L. (1986). Parents’ reactions to teacher practices of parent involvement. The Elementary School Journal, 86, 277–294.
Epstein, J. L. (1990). School and family connections: Theory, research, and implication for integrating sociologies of education and family. In D. G. Unger & M. B. Sussman (Eds.), Families in community settings: Interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 103–113). New York: Haworth Press.
Fernández-Enguita, M. (1993). La profesión docente y la comunidad escolar: crónica de un desecuentro. Madrid: Morata.
Foucault, M. (1998). Archivio Foucault 3. Estetica dell’esistenza, etica, politica. Milano: Feltrinelli.
Gayet, D. (1999). L’école contre les parents. Paris: INRP.
Gestwicki, C. (2007). Home, school, and community relations. Thomson: New York.
González-Falcón, I., & Romero-Muñoz, A. (2010). La integración de las familias inmigrantes en la comunidad educativa. Educación y Diversidad. Revista Interuniversitaria de Investigación sobre Discapacidad e Interculturalidad, 2(4), 105–116.
González-Falcón, I., & Romero-Muñoz, A. (2011). La relazione scuola-famiglia in Spagna. Nuove sfide nella società multiculturale. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 227–267). Brescia: La Scuola.
Haynes, N. M., Gebreyesus, S., & Comer, J. P., (1993). Selected case studies of national Implementation of the School Development Program. New Haven: Yale Child Study Center.
Haynes, N. M., & Ben-Avie, M. (1996). Parents as Full Partners in Education. In A. Booth & J. Dunn, Family-School Links. How Do They Affect Educational Outcomes? (pp. 45–55). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Henry, M. E. (1996). Parents-school collaboration: Feminist organizational structures and school
leadership. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Honneth, A. (1992). Kampf um Anerkennung. Grammatik Sozialer Konflikte. Frankfurt am Main:
Suhrkamp Verlag.
Humbeeck, B., Lahaye, W., Balsamo, A., & Pourtois, J.-P. (2006). Le partenariat entre l’école et la
famille: un projet de co-éducation entre les différents acteurs de l’éducation. Université de Mons-
Hainaut: Rapport d’Activité, C.E.R.I.S..
Huss-Keeler, R. L. (1997). Teacher perception of ethnic and linguistic minority parental involvement and its relationship to children’s language and literacy learning: A case study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13(2), 171–182.
INTO (1997). Parental involvement: Possibilities for Partnership. Dublin: Into.
Kryger, N., & Ravn, B. (2009). Homework in Denmark: What kind of links between family and
school? In R. Deslandes (Ed.), International Perspectives on Student Outcomes and Homework.
Family-School-Community Partnerships (pp. 7–24). London: Routledge.
Lahaye, W., Pourtois, J.-P., & Desmet, H. (2009). The challenge of co-education in a disadvantage
context. In R. Deslandes (Ed.), International perspectives on contexts, Communities and evaluated innovative practices. Family-school-community partnerships (pp. 82–94). New York: Routledge.
Lareau, A. (1987). Social class differences in family-school relationships: The importance of cultural capital. Sociology of Education, 60, 73–85.
Lopez, G. R., Scribner, J. D., & Mahitivanichcha, K. (2001). Redefining parent involvement: Lessons
from high-performing migrant impacted schools. American Educational Research Journal, 38(2),
253–288.
Mac Ruairc, G. (2011). “No parents beyond this pointâ€. Una riflessione critica sulla partecipazione
parentale nella scuola primaria in Irlanda. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa.
Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 141–172). Brescia: La Scuola.
Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutional organization: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340–363.
Migeot-Alvarado, J. (2002). Un marriage force? Les parents et l’école en France. Revue Internationale d’Éducation, 31, 51–63.
Osborn, M., Broadfoot, P., McNess, E., Planel, C., Ravn, B., & Triggs, P. (2003). A world of difference? Comparing learners across Europe. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Palaiologou, N., Evangelou, O., & Tsapakidou, A. (2011). Le famiglie immigrate trovano ascolto negli spazi scolastici? Il caso della Grecia. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 269-299). Brescia: La Scuola.
Papazoglou, N. (1984). School-family relations: Teachers, parents and pupils’rights. Athens: Ed.
Epikerotita.
Pati, L. (2001). Famiglia e scuola per l’educazione: dal partecipare al cooperare. La Famiglia, 205,
15–26.
Pati, L. (2008). La corresponsabilità educativa tra docenti e genitori. La Famiglia, 244, 22–29.
Pennac, D. (2008). Diario di scuola. Milano: Feltrinelli.
Perboni, G. (2009). Perle ai porci. Milano: Mondolibri.
Perregaux, C. (2008). 26 façon d’accueillir. Ville-école-intégration, 153, 57–67.
Perregaux, C., Changkakoti, N., Gremion, M., & Hutter, V. (2011). Famiglie migranti in cerca di
dialogo con l’istituzione scolastica. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 357–381). Brescia: La Scuola.
Rabusicová, M. (2009). Family-school partnership in theory and practice of the Czech schools:
Conflict between ideal and reality. In R. Deslandes (Ed.), International perspectives on contexts,
Communities and evaluated innovative practices. Family-school-community partnerships (pp. 21–36). New York: Routledge.
Ravn, B. (2005). An ambiguous relationship. Challenges and contradictions in the field of familyschool- community partnership. Questioning the discourse of partnership. In R. A. Martinez-Gonzales et al., Family-school community partnerships merging into social development (pp. 435–475). Oviedo: GrupoSM.
Ravn, B. (2011). Le relazioni casa-scuola in Danimarca. In P. Dusi & L. Pati (Eds.), Corresponsabilità educativa. Scuola e famiglia nella sfida multiculturale: una prospettiva europea (pp. 89–111). Brescia: La Scuola.
Smit, F., & Driessen, G. (2009). Creating effective family-school partnerships in highly diverse
contexts. Building partnership models and constructing parent typologies. In R. Deslandes (Ed.),
International perspectives on contexts, Communities and evaluated innovative practices. Family-schoolcommunity partnerships (pp. 64–81). New York: Routledge.
Swap, S. A. (1993). Developing home-school partnership. New York: Teachers College Press.
Talib, M.-T. (Ed.) (2006). Diversity: A Challenge for Education. Turku: Finnish Educational Research
Association.
Tizard, B., Mortimore, J., & Burchell, B. (1981). Involving Parents in Nursery and Infant Schools.
London: Grant McIntyre.
Useem, E. L. (1991). Student selection into course sequences in mathematics: The impact of parental involvement and school policies. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1(3), 231–250.
Useem, E. L. (1992). Middle schools and math groups: Parents’ involvement in children’s placement. Sociology of Education, 65, 263–279.
Published
2012-03-31
How to Cite
Dusi, P. (2012). The Family-School Relationships in Europe: A Research Review. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 2(1), 13-33. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.393
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