Collaboration between home and school : a Swedish perspective

Research topic/aim: Collaboration between home and school has been emphasized in Sweden during the last decades, which is regarded as an important but complex issue. The background to this accelerated requirement has been the changes in education policy and in society in which the importance of parents' opportunities and rights to influence preschool and compulsory education based on the democratic values has been highlighted. This study adds value to current teacher and pupil development in Sweden. The specific objectives are: To map the system, policies, curricular and resources dealing with home-school collaboration on macro level and to analyze practices and perspectives on home-school collaboration on micro level in Sweden.Theoretical framework:In this study a social-cultural perspective are used to explore and understand the complexity between the actors involved in the relationship. Governance and partnership are key concepts applied to the analysis of data. Methodology/research design: The research design is action research and case study method. Data were gathered through interviews, observations and analysis of documents.Expectyed conclusions/findings: This study will give an understanding of teachers', parents' and pupils' attitudes, experiences and identify some useful model of home-school relationship and collaboration. Examples from practice show that teacher education programs in Sweden are in need of development as well as development of a more culture sensitive curriculum. Another important area is to give education in dialogue attitudes for teachers on the field and also find out how research results can be implemented.Relevance for Nordic Educational research: Parents and pupils role in school is of interest to be shared with other countries. An increased investment is needed on research that means to contribute to an increased understanding within the field of home and school.Godkänd; 2010; 20100428 (ysko