Promoting Well-Being of Children at School: Parental Agency in the Context of Negotiating for Support

Abstract

This study describes how parents experience their role in enhancing the well-being of their children and what this reveals about parental agency in the context of collaborations between home and school. In Finland, schools are among the most important environments for delivering services to children. The goal of this study is to bring into focus the parental dispositions in multi-agency interactions based on their experiences and to make sense of both their successes and the barriers they face. The Finnish education system aims to develop itself according to the inclusive principles. However, the inclusive school culture is still a work in progress. The parental agency and positions in collaboration with school personnel are ambivalent, and there are several assets and barriers that affect their ability to participate fully in discussions about the well-being of their children at school. In this article, the parental positions are connected to situations where they negotiate the process of collaborative planning of support for the learning and well-being of their children in the school environment. Participants are 13 mothers and one couple, mother and father. Their experiences are analyzed qualitatively via interviews and the concept of agency, a sociological concept that refers to the mutual relation between a culture or structure and the opportunities of human agents to interact within the given contexts. The results reveal qualitative differences in the experienced parental agency. The parental agency is connected to the given opportunities, and the key role in making the agency possible in the schools is given for the teachers. Behind everyday practices, there are deeper questions about the parental positions and their value in collaboration.

Purposeful and Ethical Early Childhood Teacher: The Underlying Values Guiding Finnish Early Childhood Education

“…Recently, there has been a change in the myopic conceptualization emphasizing disabilities and specialist support, welcoming all children to ECEC groups without segregating them based on ability, ethnic background, gender, socioeconomic status, or other individual or sociocultural characteristics (Engelbrecht et al, 2017). Koskela (2021) emphasized that being accepted is one of the rudimentary aspects of children's and parents’ well-being. Therefore, being accepted promotes collaboration among ECEC and the guardians, which allows for the cultivation of a truly inclusive ECE environment.…”

Students Motivation and Parental Support on Modular Learning

“…This family of parents is easily identifiable. Open communication that focuses on pedagogical solutions rather than a child's issues helps parents trust school employees Koskela T. (2021). Parental support has a big significant association with the student to guide towards better pathways and encourage students in something they want to but they are scared.…”

Peruskouluikäisten lasten vanhempien koettu toimijuus covid-19-pandemian hätäetäopetuksen aikana

“…Hartas 2015). Oppimistulosten lisäksi vanhempien osallisuudella ja aktiivisella toimijuudella voidaan nähdä olevan merkitystä lasten koulukokemuksiin ja kouluhyvinvointiin (Koskela 2021).…”

“…Vanhempien osallisuuden tiellä voi kuitenkin olla monenlaisia tiedostettuja tai tiedostamatto-mia esteitä. Tutkimusten mukaan vanhempien vaikutusmahdollisuudet koulun arkeen näyttäisivät olevan satunnaisia ja ristiriitaisia (Bryan & Henry 2012;Koskela 2021;Metso 2004;Orell & Pihlaja 2018) eivätkä he useinkaan koe tulevansa tuetuksi ja arvostetuiksi (Barnes 2008). On havaittu, että vanhempien tulee neuvotella oma asemansa keskusteluissa opettajien kanssa kerta toisensa jälkeen (Tveit 2009).…”

“…Osallisuuden esteiksi voivat muodostua myös ristiriitaiset käsitykset lasten, vanhempien, opettajien ja moni ammatillisten toimijoiden oikeuksista tai velvollisuuksista. (Barnes 2008;Knibbe & Horstman 2020;Koskela 2021;Rogers 2007. ) Tutkimuksessamme kodin ja koulun yhteistyö nähdään relationaalisina, ihmisten välisissä verkostoissa rakentuvina suhteina.…”