Performing the norm in the Global North: migrant parents’ positions and participation within Icelandic schools

Abstract

Parental involvement, presented as a normative construct, is widely considered a key strategy important to educational inclusion and democratic citizenship. Yet, migrant parents continue to experience exclusion within national educational settings. This study focused on the positions and participation of fourteen immigrant and refugee parents within Icelandic schools. Findings suggest that, regardless of the kind or level of involvement practised, all the parents were affected by positional boundaries in relation to their parenting practices, whereby many struggled to become involved only to find their knowledge and experiences invalidated. Such internal exclusion occurs in sharp contrast to the inclusive and democratic citizenship ideals presented as part of Icelandic educational policy and works against parents’ hopes for inclusive futures. We suggest applying Arendt’s metaphor of visiting as a way to disrupt binary power dynamics and normative understandings of parent practices and to rethink the process of parental involvement and inclusion within education.