ABSTRACT
It would be politically naive to assume that greater involvement of parents is the panacea for the problem of school achievement of “at risk” students (Apple, 1996; Fine, 1993).1 Some of the more critical literature in the area has indicated how polices in this regard are fraught with problems. One of these is that the State abdicates its responsibilities in providing that to which all pupils are entitled, guided by the principles of equity (see, for instance, Darmanin, 1994, p. 29; Smyth, 1994, p. 132; Mansfield, in Symeonides, 1996). In a similar vein, others have indicated how, in this present neoliberal climate, it has become fashionable to promote the idea of community involvement within the context of “active democratic citizenship” (Ledwith, 1997, p. 148), especially in a scenario characterized by attempts to cut back on public spending (Apple, 1996; Kachur and Harrison, 1999). Parental involvement constitutes one such form of community action that runs the danger of reflecting the all-pervasive market ideology, the parent being the consumer in this case (Smyth, 1994, p. 131).
