Parent Empowerment? Collective action and inaction in education

Abstract

Abstract The aims of this paper are two‐fold. First, to examine the concept of ‘empowerment’ in more detail, and to analyse contrasting perspectives to the ‘empowerment’ of parents, which have informed developments at a national and local level, primarily in the UK, but also in the US and elsewhere. Second, to illustrate, by drawing on empirical data, the limited impact these approaches have upon a group of working class parents in London. The first approach is exemplified by social democratic initiatives which define ‘empowerment’ as a strengthening of the role of parent‐as‐citizen, through mechanisms designed to encourage the closer involvement of parents in the planning and delivery of local education services. The second definition of empowerment is contained within the Conservative Party's emphasis on promoting the role of the parent‐as‐consumer, especially through policies claiming to enhance parental choice of school. A third approach, supported by the ‘new centrists’, emphasises the responsibility...