ABSTRACT
The involvement of parents in the formal education of their children in the United Kingdom stands today at the crossroads between two ideologically conflicting conceptions of its purpose. On the one hand, there is the view, encapsulated in the social welfare policies which were in ascendance during the period of post-war reform, that the state in partnership with its citizenry can and should work towards improving the conditions of people’s lives, especially for those who are disadvantaged. On the other hand, there is the view, espoused by the neo-liberal ‘new right’, that a system of state welfare stifles the independence and self-reliance of individuals, the family and local communities. From the former perspective, parent-professional partnership in education was seen as central to achieving the desired improvements for future generations. The neoliberal perspective, by contrast, with its origins in the demise of the post-war economic miracle, has taken a much more cautious view of the ‘benefits’, of partnership, radically confronting what it sees as the professional self-interest of a ‘left-wing’, interventionist bureaucracy (Cox et al. 1986).
