An ethic of care in two community focused schools in Wales

Abstract

ABSTRACT The relational dimension of schooling has been identified as an important aspect of educational professionals’ everyday practices, yet little is known about how mainstream schools go about the day-to-day act of fostering positive and trusting relationships with children and parents. This paper draws on data generated from a case study involving two schools in Wales which sought to understand how schools foster positive relationships with parents and children. Interviews and focus groups with staff, parents and pupils at two community focused schools in Wales revealed that an ethic of care was crucial to the formation of quality trusting relationships between staff, parents and pupils. It will be argued that the caring relationships which school staff grafted with parents and pupils through day-to-day acts were inextricably bound with their wider social contexts and location in areas of significant socio-economic disadvantage. In this sense, these schools’ wider social contexts informed how they interpreted and enacted policy agendas around both academic performance and community schooling. It is therefore suggested that the fostering of a relational dimension of schooling is crucial to the development of a community focused schools’ agenda in Wales.