Values and Beliefs Held About Parenting and Education by School Staff and Parents of Pupils with Special Educational Needs in the Context of Home- School Collaboration

Effective collaboration between school staff and parents of children identified as having special educational needs is considered to be an essential component of the child’s successful education. Differences in beliefs and perspectives adopted by the school staff and parents play an important role in the process of collaboration. However, little is known about the precise relationship between the beliefs and the process of collaboration. The purpose of this study was to explore the values and beliefs held by the school staff and parents in the areas of parenting and education. The study also explored the link between these beliefs and the process of collaboration within four parent-teacher dyads from mainstream primary schools. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews based on repertory grid technique were used. The findings highlighted an overall similarity in the participants’ views on collaboration and in their important beliefs about parenting and education. At the same time, differences in perspectives adopted by parents and teachers were also identified. The author discusses how these differences in perspectives are manifested in the process of collaboration from the point of Cultural Capital Theory. The factors such as power differentials, trust between parents and teachers, and limited resources and constraints of educational system are highlighted. Implication for practice for teachers and educational psychologists are discussed.