How parent-school relations are strained by uncertainty about educational success
When dealing with children experiencing severe difficulties at school, teaching staff need to be creative, replacing conventional and ineffective school practices with scenarios aiming for a broader perspective of educational success. Educational efforts on the periphery of conventional practices, such as these, trigger uncertainty, which impacts teaching staff and their interaction with families. We used a case study, based on a survey conducted in Romandy, Switzerland, to demonstrate the ambiguity of the role attributed to families in this context. In some cases, they are considered a conduit for the school’s actions and are asked to intervene to attenuate uncertainty. In other cases, they are pressured to submit to unilateral decisions.