Parents with a Migration Background in the Educational Policy Discourse of the Federal Republic of Germany
📌 Project Lead: Mechtild Gomolla and Ellen Kollender
Project Description
In recent decades, enhancing parental involvement has been widely regarded as a key strategy for improving student learning outcomes—particularly in schools with a high proportion of children from migrant backgrounds and/or economically disadvantaged families. This involvement is often framed in terms of “partnership” and “cooperation”, but these concepts encompass various meanings and strategies that do not always align with social justice goals.
In reality, parental engagement initiatives can sometimes reinforce segregation, rather than promote inclusion, when they are based on paternalistic attitudes, deficit-oriented perspectives, or cultural stereotypes.
Research Approach
This study conducted a discourse analysis of educational and integration policy documents from the 1950s to the present, examining how the image of foreign parents or parents with a migration background has evolved in relation to schools in Germany.
Key aspects analyzed in this study include:
✔ Tensions, contradictions, and gaps in current parental involvement strategies
✔ Shifts in integration policy discourse
✔ The emergence of new post-welfare state forms of education governance
✔ Transformations in the public sphere in the context of schools