Developing partnership with parents in special schools: parental perspectives from Northern Ireland

Abstract

From the 1960s, the development of home–school relationships in special schools has become increasingly important, culminating in the current official understanding of parents as partners. This paper traces the development of the relationship, setting out the challenges to partnership development from professional perspectives within education. A professionally located investigation was undertaken into parental experiences and perspectives to identify factors inhibiting and promoting effective partnerships. Using a mixed-methods approach, the views were explored of parents with children attending a special school in Northern Ireland. Findings strongly indicated the need for educators to pursue and engage with the views of parents, and to recognise the emotional context of these relationships at an interpersonal and organisational level, so that home–school relations can be realigned to support partnership. Implications are set out that will be instrumental in achieving this reconfiguration between the current official understanding of parents as equal partners and actual practice in some schools.