New study analyses newly arrived parents’ collaboration in Swedish school context

A new study by researchers at Linnaeus University, among others, analyses newly arrived parents’ narratives of collaborations with the Swedish school. The study shows that successful collaboration in the school context seems to be a basic prerequisite for a successful integration of parents from different ethnic backgrounds into society in general.

“Our analysis shows that parents dramatise the need for collaboration between teachers and parents, and construct and reconstruct alliances and triads in their narratives. The parties in the triads are parents, children and teachers”, says Goran Basic, associate professor at Linnaeus University.

From the parents' stories, a picture emerges of an invitation to teachers to form a partnership. This partnership seems to strengthen the stability of the triad, with the objective of creating a successful collaboration for the best interests of the child.

“It is important with research on collaboration in the school world”, says Goran Basic. “There, different professional categories, not just teachers, are expected to collaborate both with each other and with pupils and parents, with the common goal of achieving success for the pupil in question.”

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• Link to the study: Newly arrived parents and collaboration in Swedish school context: an interactionally and ethnomethodologically inspired analysis
• The study is part of the research project Successful collaboration.