“If we don’t adapt, we lose some parents”. Collaborations with migrant families in the context of student wellbeing

: Szelei, Nikolett; Langer Primdahl, Nina; Skovdal, Morten; Aalto, Sanni; Osman, Fatumo; Hilden, Per Kristian; Kankaanpää, Reeta; Andersen, Arnfinn J.; Sarkadi, Anna; Watters, Charles; Derluyn, Ilse

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

: 2024

: Pastoral Care in Education

: 0264-3944

: 1468-0122

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2024.2382272

: https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2024.2382272

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/457326713

Based on focus group discussions with secondary school teachers in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, we investigated teachers’ views on home-school collaborations with migrant families in the context of student wellbeing. We asked 1) what roles and strategies constituted home-school collaborations in teachers’ views, 2) what norms of belonging characterized teachers’ perceptions on collaborations; and, 3) to what extent teachers’ perceptions of home-school collaborations reflected equity. The findings revealed two major themes: seeing parents in paradoxical roles and attempting to collaborate in a context of constraints. These themes were often underpinned by teachers’ perceived ‘ideals’ on the educational, cultural-linguistic, familial and psychosocial characteristics of a ‘family’ and a ‘parent’. These assemblages seemed to set belonging for migrant families on condition of meeting teacher-perceived ideals, and pointed to the necessity to enable plural belonging to a collaborative school community that fosters wellbeing.

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This article is part of the RefugeesWellSchool research project that received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 754849.