Horisonter för samverkan. Om föräldrasamverkan i ett mångkulturellt område

Sammanfattning: In focus of this study lie students of an upper secondary school in a multicultural district, where more than 60 % of the students fail to reach the national goals for education. Since this particularly exposed group of students receives little attention during my studies in the Special Educational Teacher Programme, I have felt an ever growing urge to examine this group closer. As a basis for this study stands theories on how children and youths, in particular those of immigrant background, need holistic consistency and continuity in order to be able to build a positive development of identity. The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities of developing parent cooperation in a multicultural district, through finding out what teachers and parents expect and desire from parent cooperation. I also want to find out how parents and teachers think that a working parent cooperation affects the student. In the study, hermeneutics is used both as a theoretical foundation and as a research method. To describe the informants’ understanding and apprehension of parent cooperation, the definition of hermeneutical horizon is used, where the horizon can be described both as an individual’s perspective, but also as his or her limitations. In order to be able to understand another person, one must approach his or her horizon. With hermeneutics as a method, interpretation and understanding stands as key features, alongside a dialect between the whole and its constituents. The study is based on semi-structured depth interviews with five parents and five teachers, from an upper secondary school in a multicultural suburb of Gothenburg, Sweden. Results show that parents and teachers often stand quite close to each other in their way of regarding cooperation. Both groups value cooperation highly and consider a working cooperation to provide the children and the parents with security. The teachers wish for more initiative as well as an active participation from the parents, while the parents value extensive and regular information from school. Both groups deem that parent participation in school give parents entry into the Swedish society. Both teachers and parents wish for more collective activities in school, such as parent meetings and parent councils – However, this is not something of which they communicate with each other. The conclusion drawn is that despite the fact that parents and teachers often stand close to each other in their thoughts and views on parent cooperation, they do not always succeed in communicating their desires and their expectations remain unspoken. The teachers’ great commitment to the individual student and family also prohibit the teachers from initiating a more collective collaboration with the parents. In the discussion section of the study, the concepts of a multicultural school and the societal consequences of parents’ cooperation with the school is problemized. Amongst others, the term inclusion is lifted from an individual to a societal level.