1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«[T]his paper analyses the social representations of parental engagement among teachers participating in a partnership program implemented in Quebec (Canada).» (p. 106)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«In this paper, we seek to answer the following research question: What are the social representations of parental engagement of teachers participating in FECRE [Famille, école, communauté, réussir ensemble]?» (p. 107)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«We present the results of a second-order analysis of data gathered as part of the FECRE evaluation, carried out between 2007 and 2010. […] In this study, we focus on the content analysis of follow-up interviews carried out among teachers (n=32) in 2008 and the content analysis of the documentary data regarding partnership plans (n=124) produced between 2003 and 2009.» (p. 108)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

«To make a very brief return on the analyzes that were carried out, teachers participating in the FECRE program in general had positive social representations on parental engagement which they considered frequent and desirable, but which they also regarded as obstacles because of the parents’ belonging to a culture-of-poverty. In the context of market education, parents are ’instrumentalized’. They are perceived as ’allies’ whose function is necessary to support passively the teacher in the transmission of school knowledge to children. In this way, the study of the representations through this particular angle underscores the peripheral position of parents in the school ’field’. […] The study of parental engagement through the social representations viewpoint has not only highlighted the ’top down’ relation between school and family, but also a ’horizontal approach’. Social representations of parental engagement are not fixed or attached to a reified and non-consensual universe (Moscovici, 1984). We have seen, rather, that they evolve around strong dynamics, depending on the evolution of discourse on practices (partnership plans) and possibly on the practices themselves. We can consider the FECRE program as a dialectic field that allows the free flow of knowledge between the school, the family and the community.» (p. 111)