”No parent left behind”: Föräldradeltagande för inkludering och effektivitet

Abstract

Parents’ - as well as children’s - participation is highly stressed in every policy document concerning pre-school and school, on local, national and international level. In this article parents’ participation in pre-school and school is regarded as an element of tension between policy and professional practice. Based on empirical data from three different studies, teachers’ professional attitudes and their conceptions of parental participation in school are presented. Contradictions between policy ambitions and professional practices are discussed in an historical perspective, and related to earlier emphasised equality in relation to the school. Changes are shown, especially in the policy discourse about parents’ participation: from the earlier objective of enhanced democracy, which was seen as an important, basic value, to the present goal of enhanced democracy and inclusion as a strategy for better learning outcomes and school efficiency.