| Abstrakt: |
The question driving this study was: What makes rural secondary parents feel in community with their children's schools? Using a sociomaterial approach, data were collected from three rural schools in northern Alberta, Canada using walking interviews with parents in the schools, site observations, focus groups, and individual interviews with 21 parents. Data were viewed through a risk lens to gain insights into how parent-parent interactions entail risk, and how this may impact upon their sense of community. Three categories of risk were developed: social and personal risk that emerges from being familiar, known, or part of a "legacy family"; political risk was experienced through parents' influence (or lack of influence) in school decisions, and the extent to which they could authentically express/live their perspectives; and moral/ethical risk related to the expectation and responsibility to engage with the community in good ways to prove one's right to belong. This research adds to the scholarship on parent involvement generally by highlighting the parent-parent dynamic as possibly creating tensions and barriers for the home-school dynamic. Most research focuses on teacher-parent or principal-parent relationships. This research adds to the scholarship on rural parent involvement specifically in three ways. The concept of legacy parents is introduced and the role interrogated. Second, the view of rural schools as close-knit is challenged by bringing to light how collective identities create hierarchies and entrench time-honored expectations of engagement. Finally, the seamlessness of boundaries between rural schools and their external communities is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
