Home — School Relationships: ‘the swarming of disciplinary mechanisms’?1

Abstract This article examines a number of connecting themes concerning home‐school relations over the last 20 years. We argue that the position of parents in relation to the education system can be seen as an instructive case study for the broader trends and shifts in the relationship between citizens and public sector institutions. As such we conclude that the important developments, upon which future analysis should concentrate, are those where parents seek to define for themselves new understandings of what constitutes an ‘appropriate’ parental role, rather than being captured within a hegemonic discourse of ‘good’ parenting. The incursions of consumerism into public sector institutions is obviously a major theme throughout the paper, and we seek to highlight some flaws in the notion of parent as consumer. In particular, we argue that the apparent agency embedded in the role of consumer does not necessarily influence parents’ relationships with teachers once a choice of school is made. At school level notions of ‘partnership’ are still dominant. We examine the ways in which ‘partnerships’ are played out in practice, and argue that the concept is increasingly used to justify mechanisms, such as home‐school contracts, which seek to control the behaviour of parents and their children. The third theme within the paper explores the possibilities for parental agency and activity, using examples drawn from parents’ groups organising around special education. The final section considers the potential for future research on home‐school relations.