This chapter looks at the nature of cooperation between home, school and the community in the six member countries. It begins by focusing on the theoretical debate concerning the nature of choice as selfdetermination, collective action or consumerism. It examines educational reforms to increase parental participation in education which have occurred across Europe since the early 1970s, and develops a particular focus on how such cooperation affects the education of socially excluded children. On the basis of this theoretical analysis, it examines those initiatives, mostly at a school-based level, which have developed home-school-community relationships and increased the educational attainment of socially excluded children. In developing a thematic analysis of these initiatives, this chapter will address the discourses reflected in these initiatives, asking whether these schemes may be judged effective and whether they can contribute to the development of positive home-school- community relationships in other countries.

Current trends and issues in parent-schoolcommunity partnerships in the member countries

Parental involvement in education

There has been a plethora of legislation and educational reform in favour of parental participation in education across Europe since the early 1970s. The 1990s have continued this trend, with both legislation and educational reform providing a statutory basis for parental participation in the educational systems of all the member countries (European Commission, 1997). However, the nature and extent of parental participation established by such reforms varies greatly between the countries involved in this study. In general, parental participation in education and schools across the project countries can be viewed in terms of:

Mandatory rights, consisting of:

• (i) representation in school-level management and, in some countries, meso- and national-level decision making;

• (ii) ‘choice’ of school;

Non-mandatory rights, consisting of:

• (i) groups: parent-teacher associations, parent advisory groups, parent councils and various parent fund-raising groups;

• (ii) involvement in children’s education; for example, reading programmes and homework.

Perhaps the first point to be made in relation to both mandatory and non-mandatory parental rights is that parents are not a homogeneous group. Each will bring an unique experience and agenda to the forum of parental involvement. Parents may, for example, object to particular aspects of education, or alternatively be in favour of various forms of school segregation as a consequence of their differing social class, religious stance or ethnicity.