PARENTS AND COMMUNITY, AND SCHOOL: A GENERAL OVERVIEW

Résumé

This Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy special issue, “Parent and Community Participation in Educational Improvement,” was inspired by the recognition of the ecological nature of schools; participative approaches to educational improvement, educational policy development, and school decision-making have become commonplace. It is, however, one matter to theoretically and/or philosophically accept parents and the larger community as contributors to educational goals, and rather quite another to enunciate this Zeitgeist of collaboration, partnership, or authentic engagement in mutually beneficial ways. In other words, this special issue is premised on the assumption that an academic exploration of parent and community engagement in education is required to strengthen the discourse beyond an uncontested and romanticized rhetoric of school community.