"The lunatics have taken over the asylum": A phenomenological perspective on parent-teacher relationships

dc.creator	Jackie Laluvein
dc.date	2006-05-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:17:51Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:17:51Z
dc.identifier	1477-5557
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/c20e31f396744ee6a9193434a9ccd997
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/19191
dc.description	Contextualisation My research explores the relationships between the parent/carers of children with special educational needs and their teachers. The section of analysis detailed in this paper draws upon the interviews given by the mother as parent (P) and class teacher (T) of an 11 year old boy described as having ‘emotional and behavioural difficulties’. Using a phenomenological perspective, microsystems and/or environments are described in terms of how they are perceived or experienced by the participants. The analysis is viewed through two lenses: the sociocultural view of development proposed by Bronfennbrenner’s Ecology of Human Development (1979), in which an ecological approach is taken to the analysis of human relationships, and Wenger’s work on Communities of Practice (1998) which presents a theory of learning as a process of social participation. Abstract: Parent-teacher relationships operate at different points along a continuum of engagement involving two or more participants engaged in common, complementary or independent undertakings. My research has a particular focus upon the (often problematic) relationships between the parent/carers of children with special educational needs and their teachers. In this paper, the theories of both Wenger and Bronfenbrenner are discussed and utilised to reflect individuals existing within layers of relationships and influences. The paper highlights the way in which a parent, teacher and child, concurrently involved in more than one community or microsystem at work and at home, are subject to the influence of different ecosystems. The analysis of dyadic interviews is used to demonstrate that both context and setting can be instrumental in explicating parent-teacher relationships. The final section of the paper demonstrates that a workable definition of ‘what matters and what doesn’t matter’ cannot be presumed to be shared by parents and teachers. Negotiation of meaning is an integral part of the informal ‘communities of practice’ formed when people pursue a shared enterprise over time. ‘Communities of practice’, in Wenger’s terms, or ‘joint activity dyads’, in Bronfenbrenner’s terms, are emergent structures resulting from collective learning with both developmental and transformative potential for all involved in the education of children.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Institute of Education, University of London
dc.relation	http://www.educatejournal.org/index.php?journal=educate&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=71
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1477-5557
dc.source	Educate~, Vol 3, Iss 2, Pp 24-34 (2006)
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	"The lunatics have taken over the asylum": A phenomenological perspective on parent-teacher relationships
dc.type	article