ABSTRACT
Students’ school adjustment relies, at least in part, on the practical and emotional resources made available to them over the years from home, school and the wider community. Parents’ educational aspirations for their children and the educational involvement of both mothers and fathers are linked to their children’s and adolescents’ improved attitudes to school and better academic outcomes and emotional adjustment. Schools and families share the common task of educating young people. However, relationships between teachers and parents are often ones of concealed power, with educators having power by virtue of their expertise, being part of the system and, in the case of children with disabilities or behavioural difficulties, the ones who confer diagnoses. A more active role for parents entails acting as volunteers on nominal activities such as canteen work or fundraisers or as classroom assistants. A wide variety of factors affect parents’ participation in their son or daughter’s school.
