Tales from School

Learning Disability and State Education

after Administrative Reform

Edited by

Rod Wills
University of Auckland, New Zealand

Missy Morton
University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Margaret McLean
University of Auckland, New Zealand

Maxine Stephenson
University of Auckland, New Zealand

and

Roger Slee
Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

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 ALISON KEARNEY

9. PARENT-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS AND THE

EXCLUSION OF DISABLED STUDENTS FROM
AND WITHIN SCHOOL

INTRODUCTION

There is extensive and convincing research evidence to show the positive impact
that successful parental involvement in education can have on students’
achievement (e.g., Alton-Lee, 2003; Bull, Brooking, & Campbell, 2008; Epstein,
1995; Jeynes, 2007; Mitchell, 2010). Advantages for students include improved
learning and behavior outcomes, increased positive motivation, and more regular
attendance at school (La Rocque, Kleiman, & Darling, 2011) Studies have also
shown that these advantages carry over once students leave school in the form of
higher rates of post secondary education enrolment (SRI International, 2005).
Research evidence also demonstrates advantages for teachers and parents (Hornby,
2012). Based on this strong evidence, there has been increasing interest in ways to
develop and facilitate effective parental involvement in education (Bull, Brooking,
& Campbell, 2008).
Of particular relevance to this chapter is the involvement of parents of disabled
students. This is critically important because parents possess knowledge of, and
expertise in, the needs of their child; can support school learning programmes in
the home setting; and are often the only common link between the school and other
specialists and professionals who are frequently involved with their child. It has
also been reported that as disabled students may be more vulnerable to violation of
their rights, parents play an important role in advocating for them in this regard
(U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services & Office of Special Education Programs, 2004). In many countries, the
involvement of parents of disabled children in their education has been authorised
by way of legislation. For example in the US, the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) amendment of 1997 mandated the involvement of parents as
members of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) team.
La Rocque, Kleiman and Darling (2011, p. 116) define parental involvement as
parents’ investment in their child’s education. They suggest that this can be
evidenced in the following hierarchy of activities:
– Volunteering at school
– Helping children with their homework
– Attending school functions
– Visiting the child’s classroom
– Sharing expertise or experience
– Taking leaderships roles in the school

R. Wills et al. (eds.), Tales from School, 133–147.

© 2014 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.
ALISON KEARNEY

– Participating in decision-making .
Some researchers have gone further than focusing merely on parental
involvement, instead emphasising the need for parent and school partnership
involving shared responsibility and collaboration (e.g. Zhang & Bennett, 2003).
However, regardless of the terms used, or the nature of the interaction between
parents and schools, an important aspect of that interaction is relationships – that
is, how parents and teachers (as well as other education professionals) relate to
each other. Research has shown that parent-school relationships are very strong
factors in the success or otherwise of effective partnerships between parents and
schools. They have the potential to facilitate partnerships, and to threaten them
(Giardina, 2012; Keen, 2007). Effective relationships involve mutual trust and
respect between parents and educators, enable parents to feel as if they belong, and
allow both parents and educators to feel that they are valued. However, what
happens when relationships between parents and educators break down, or when
relationships do not even form, and what is the link between this and the exclusion
of disabled students from and within school? This chapter examines disabled
students’ school exclusion from the perspective of their parents. It considers the
relationship between the breakdown of effective parent and school relationships
and the exclusion and marginalisation of disabled students from and within school.

EXCLUSION AND INCLUSION FROM AND WITHIN SCHOOL

Inclusive education has been described as a social movement against exclusion

where the emphasis is on the restructuring of mainstream schools so they are better
able to respond to and meet the needs of all students (United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organisation [UNESCO], 2005). Inclusive education seeks
to identify, reduce and eliminate those contextual barriers that act to exclude and
marginalise students, so that all students may be present, participate and learn at
school (Booth & Ainscow, 2011). Inclusive education has grown out of human
rights and social justice arguments and is seen as a vehicle for achieving equity in
education, particularly for those students and groups of students who have
historically been excluded or marginalised from mainstream education.
As more and more countries around the world are pursuing models of inclusive
education, it is critically important to recognise and interrogate the notion of
exclusion. This is because inclusion and exclusion are inextricably linked. To be
included is not to be excluded and to be excluded is not to be included. In order to
increase the presence, participation and learning of students who have historically
been excluded and marginalised, forces of exclusion (or barriers to student
inclusion) will need to be identified and eliminated.
The term exclusion is complex and used in a variety of settings with different
meanings. Exclusion can involve ostracism, derogation, rejection and
marginalisation. It can conjure up pictures of being on the outside, of not being
permitted in or not being allowed to participate. In education, the term exclusion
has historically been used and understood in relation to school discipline. Here it is
understood as a process that occurs when a student is formally removed from

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school for issues of inappropriate behaviour. However as well as its use in this
way, exclusion has also been used in education as the antonym of inclusion, or
inclusive education. Critical to this interpretation is the understanding that
exclusion is not only associated with a prohibition on attendance at school. Barriers
to participation and/or learning at school can result in a child or young person
experiencing exclusion and segregation though present at school. (UNESCO, 2012,
p. 3) describes exclusion as students being excluded from:
– entry into school
– regular and continuing participation in school
– access to the curriculum and meaningful learning experiences
– recognition of the learning acquired.
In the inclusive education literature, exclusion is described as anything that acts
as an obstacle or barrier to a child or young person participating as a valued and
accepted school member with equal access to all the things that happen at school
such as resources, learning experiences, teacher time, friendships, school and class
rewards (Kearney, 2009). Exclusion can be experienced in many ways. It may be
overt and obvious such as reduced access to the curriculum or to the class teacher.
However, exclusion may also be hidden and deeply ingrained in school cultures,
policies and practices (Kearney, 2011).
Not only do processes of exclusion act as barriers to effective inclusive
education systems, but also for those who experience ongoing and sustained
exclusion, there can be devastating impacts and consequences (Tang &
Richardson, 2012). When people are excluded, they are devalued and this can have
major psychological effects in relation to their feelings of value and belonging
(Falvey & Givner, 2005; Williams, 2009). Exclusion from education can also lead
to social disaffection and isolation as well as inequalities within societies
(UNESCO, 2012). The negative implications of educational exclusion can be
serious and far-reaching and for these reasons alone, it cannot be ignored.
However, educational exclusion cannot be ignored from a ‘rights’ perspective as
well. This is because access to education is considered a basic human and
legislative right and these rights are protected in human rights conventions and in
legislation.
Given the importance of parent involvement in education and the significant
part that relationships play in this involvement, it is critical to understand the
barriers that impede the development of effective parent-school relationships and
the effects these may have on the inclusion and exclusion of disabled students from
and within school. As schools seek to adopt models of inclusive education, an
examination of these factors will assist in this process. To investigate these, a study
examining parents’ perspectives of their disabled child’s exclusion from and within
school was undertaken. In particular, aspects of the parent-school relationship and
their role in the exclusion of disabled students were examined.

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ALISON KEARNEY

GATHERING INFORMATION FROM PARENTS

The study involved a group of parents whose disabled children had experienced
exclusion from or within school. These parents were recruited by way of short
advertisements that were placed in New Zealand parent disability magazines and
newsletters. Parents of disabled students who had experienced exclusionary
pressures or barriers to their inclusion in school were invited to log on to a web
address and complete a short questionnaire. Exclusionary pressures and/or barriers
to school inclusion were defined as anything that acted as an obstacle, or had got in
the way of a child or young person participating as a valued and accepted school
member with equal access to all the things that happen at school. In the
questionnaire, parents were asked to identify the barriers that their child had
experienced to being included at school. At the end of the questionnaire, parents
were invited to indicate their willingness to participate in a follow-up interview
where they would be asked to elaborate on their child’s experiences. Sixty-three
participants completed the questionnaire, and fifty-one of them indicated that they
would like to participate in a follow-up interview. This large group was then
subdivided into smaller groups or strata according to the identified main barrier
their child experienced to being included at school. From each of these smaller
groups every fifth willing participant was selected. The twelve interviewees
described themselves as ‘mothers’ and were located throughout New Zealand. For
eleven parents and their children, the exclusion was experienced at primary school.
One parent reported on exclusion experienced at secondary school.
Interviews were semi-structured and consisted of asking the parent to talk about
the exclusion that their child had experienced. Data from the interviews were
transcribed and then entered into the software programme, NVivo(7). An
adaptation of an analysis model by Boyatzis (1998) and Bailey (2007) was used.
The focus on the data analysis was on any aspects of parent-school interaction that
were identified by parents as a barrier to their child’s inclusion at school. This
chapter reports on results from the interview data with a focus on the role of
parent-school relationships in the exclusion of disabled students from and within
school.

BREAKDOWN OF EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN

PARENTS AND SCHOOL

All parents in this study identified breakdowns in the parent-school relationship as

factors that acted to exclude or marginalise their child from or within school. Major
factors were parents’ knowledge of their child not being respected; parents feeling
unwelcome at the school; a lack of communication on the part of the teacher and
the school; parents not being listened to; an undue deficit focus communicated to
parents; and being excluded from important decision making processes. Parents
also reported having to fight for their child’s rights, including paying for resourcing
to support their child at school.

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Knowledge Not Respected

Nearly all of the parents interviewed identified that their knowledge about their
child including their child’s individual strengths and needs was often not sought by
educators, nor was it respected when provided. For some parents, the message
given to them was that educators knew their child better than they did. “Yes, I
think, we’ve encountered this right through, anyone that’s a professional, they set
themselves up that they know your child better than you do as a parent” (Parent 5).
A second parent viewed it this way:
They see it as being nice to the parent or letting them come to a meeting or
telling them what you’re going to do but they have real difficulty in actually
accepting the expertise of parents. Not that parents have the expertise to solve
the school problem but parents have a huge pool of expertise about their child
that can help to work out what might happen if we would work together with
mutual respect, but there isn’t the mutual respect for the knowledge.
Sometimes there is mutual respect about the people but that’s different from
the knowledge and the job. The parents may not be paid but they are doing a
highly skilled and a highly expert job with a special needs child. (Parent 12)
Some parents tried to share information that they had gathered over the years with
teachers hoping that this would not only help teachers in their role, but also be of
help to their children.
I would actually take them photocopies out of books from the Autism
Society, which perfectly explained it, you know how these children act and
why. But no, they were already the experts they already knew him better than
me and they already knew everything about everything. What could I tell
them, they are the experts on children not me. (Parent 8)
Other parents were very aware of particular issues that their children experienced,
for example what antecedents may set off inappropriate behaviours. One parent
provided the following example of trying to share this information with her child’s
teacher:
And then I looked up and there was a book case right at the edge of the mat
and I said, “Can you please remove it? Because he won’t be able to sit on the
edge of the mat because he would just look at the books and skim.” “No,” she
[teacher] never asked why. (Parent 11)

Not Listened To
As well as a lack of value and respect for parents’ knowledge, many parents also
identified that they were generally not listened to. Parents spoke of their frustration
when they were not listened to, with one parent saying she had given up talking to
the school, as they did not hear. Another parent spoke of the ‘high price’ she had to
pay to be listened to which involved having to call in a facilitator to ensure that her

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ALISON KEARNEY

views were heard. “They weren’t listening to what I as his mother was telling
them, they weren’t listening” (Parent 5).
So you know why shouldn’t I be listened to if I’ve got issues? I will do
anything for my son, I will stick up for my son and I don’t care if I get a bad
name. Um I just don’t care. (Parent 6)
And also because there is no one to hear, there is no point in speaking if the
person hearing doesn’t actually get your message. (Parent 12)
I have found that to be listened to I have to pay a very high cost. At Primary
school I had to call in a special needs facilitator for the things that were
difficult. (Parent 10)

Made to Feel Unwelcome

Approximately half of the parents interviewed had stories to tell of their own
exclusion with reports of pressure to ‘stay away’ from the school or to leave the
school entirely. These messages were both subtle and blatant. This included
pressure not to be at the school, being made to feel an ‘outsider,’ and in the case of
one parent, a letter from the principal telling her that she was depressing and
demoralising. “I’m excluded from anything that happens from school. I’ve no
contact. I’ve got a few parents that I have contact with, they’ve all got kids with
special needs and we all stick together” (Parent 1).
Three other parents also said they felt unwelcome. “I just don’t think they ever
wanted us there to start with” (Parent 4).
There was this ongoing message “get ready to get out of here.” I wasn’t there
much of the time because she [teacher] never let me feel welcome there. She
always tried to get me to get out of there as fast as possible. … It was just all
to suit them basically. I don’t know if it was a bit of punishment for me like
bringing him here when they obviously didn’t want him. But it was like I was
an enemy a lot of the time basically. (Parent 10)
Finally I got a letter from the Principal saying that at the last IEP I had been
depressing and that I had been insulting and dealing with me was a
depressing and demoralising experience. I was just like shaking. I couldn’t
believe it. (Parent 11)

Excluded from Important Decision Making

Over half of the parents identified their lack of involvement in decision making as
a barrier to their child’s inclusion at school. One parent was ignored by staff at an
IEP meeting. “In relation to the IEP, everybody got a copy of it but me. I didn’t get
one and everybody had a little task to complete except me. Oh it’s awful” (Parent
2). Other parents were totally excluded from important decisions regarding their
child. “[The teacher] refused to give me information, I couldn’t find out who the

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teachers’ aides were or when the teachers’ aides were working with [our child] and
what they were working with her for. So I was utterly blocked for information”
(Parent 12). Other examples included staff paying lip service to the notion of
shared decision-making by consulting with parents after decisions had been made,
or an outright refusal to give them information. “Well they didn’t include me. Like
they consulted me and kept me up-to-date, but there it was like, all the decisions
were made by them” (Parent 10). Two parents reported putting themselves forward
as members of the school Board of Trustees as a way to become involved in school
decision-making. One said, “When things got bad I decided to put myself forward
for the Board of Trustees because I thought … if I can work alongside these people
maybe I can make a difference because it wasn’t happening any other way” (Parent
4).

FIGHTING FOR CHILD’S RIGHTS

Parents spoke of the need to become advocates for their children, and to be
prepared to fight for their basic rights. Some parents reported that this made them
stronger people and they spoke of ‘carrying on’ regardless of the barriers that were
put in front of them. They were prepared to do whatever it took to ensure that their
child received what they were entitled to. One parent explained, “Yeah I got more
pushy, more agro … I wasn’t going to let them treat me or my son like that”
(Parent 7). Others said:
I was always boxing on because I’m not going to let them win. It hurts but
I’m not going to let them win. I’m tugging harder and I just knew it was
always going to be tough, but I didn’t realise how much they let me down.
(Parent 11)
I mean sometimes they drag me in because they think I’ve been causing so
much trouble they’re going to give me a dressing down. But I’m getting
stronger all the time. (Parent 12)
For other parents, the ‘fight’ had worn them down and not only had they resigned
themselves to the exclusion that their child experienced, but felt that there was
nothing that they could do to overcome the problems or issues. One of these
parents explained, “I was so angry. I felt absolutely terrible, because I just realised
there is nothing I can do, I’ve done everything, and you need more help and you
can’t get it” (Parent 1). Another parent took her child out of the school. “I came to
the conclusion really that school was a lost cause, there was nothing that I could do
I had to take my child out” (Parent 5).
While parents spoke of being prepared to fight for their child’s education and
rights, they often recognised that this needed to be balanced with preserving any
positive aspects of the home-school relationship. As one remarked, “I still have to
balance that with my mutuality, you know, the fact that we have to keep things
effective between us. We can’t break the relationship even if something is wrong”
(Parent 12). Parents were also conscious that their actions could make things worse
for their child, or that there could be negative consequences for their child at

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school. “We can’t speak out very easily. The talk. The talk. You know the black
mark, the bad parent” (Parent 7).
The right for children to enrol at and attend their local neighbourhood school is
enshrined in legislation in New Zealand. However, for ten of the twelve parents
interviewed, barriers were erected to their child’s realisation of these rights. For
some parents, their child was denied enrolment at their local school outright. “First
we went to [name] school and we were automatically turned down. He [principal]
said you only have the choice of home schooling, that’s your problem and they
were not interested” (Parent 2). Others said they were discouraged from enrolling
their child at school:
The pressure, what they would do is they would ring up nearly every day and
say he’s not coping, “come and get him,” this is sort of how it started. Then
we got, “oh we are doing this today so it may be best if he didn’t come
because we haven’t got enough staff to look after him.” (Parent 1)
Other parents spoke of the pressure that was exerted on them by the school
principal not to enrol their child at the school:
When it came to enrolling her it was really quite clear that, hello this was
going to cause problems, they didn’t really want her. We had a principal who
was retiring, I was really aware his philosophies were quite dated. (Parent 4)
So we had a meeting with the Head of the Special Needs at [name of school]
and Head of the junior school, and they did their damnedest to talk me out of
having him there. Yes they were all at the school, my other ones [siblings].
And anyway they did their best to you know convince me not to send him
there but the more they tried to convince me the more I was going make sure.
(Parent 10)
One parent had heard that the school would tell parents of disabled students
wishing to enrol their child at the school that there was a waiting list, so she did not
inform the school that her son had ASD until after his enrolment was accepted:
Because I’ve heard of children who go down to the school and then they say
he’s ASD and they say “well you know we’ve got a waiting list” and what
happens is that you never come off the waiting list. (Parent 11)
Some parents spoke of dealing with conditions that were placed on their child’s
enrolment and attendance at school and or being pressured to take their child out of
school when problems arose. In many instances, the child’s entitlement to enrol
and remain at school fulltime was directly linked to the amount of teacher aide
hours that had been allocated to the child. Parents reported that the school’s
problem of lack of teacher aide hours was transferred to them. “I think I had to
negotiate, I think she was coming home about 1pm that was all the time we had for
teacher aide” (Parent 4). Others had similar experiences:

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I was told that there was no money and that we would have to take him out of
school for at least two days a week. … We had to take him out six hours a
week, two afternoons. (Parent 9)
[The teacher] would come rushing out to say “there is no teacher aide
available, you better take him home” and they were supposed to arrange
teacher aides but I had this entire problem. (Parent 10)

DEFICIT ORIENTATION

Half of all parents highlighted that communication from the school often involved
the ‘deficitising’ of their child and identified this as a source of their child’s
exclusion. Often this was in direct contrast to their perceptions of their children.
One parent spoke of having to try to persuade teachers that her daughter could
learn and others described how the things she knew her child was good at were
never highlighted or discussed. “They are so dismissive when I talk of her getting
NCEA Level One credits and being involved in Level One and even achieving
Level One. It’s almost as if they are laughing at us” (Parent 12).
And that’s what I felt his second year teacher was focused on, the things he
couldn’t do. And I felt like constantly go to IEPs or meetings, parent/teacher
interviews, it was always; “Oh he’s not good at this and he’s not good at that
and you know.” But hey look “This kid is good at reading.” You know “This
kid has a wonderful sense of humour.” As a parent it is nice to hear once in a
while that you know your kid is very funny, you know, you know trying to
tell jokes and the other kids are laughing, it’s things like that you want to
hear. (Parent 6)
And until then we had no idea anything was wrong until he started school and
then we were told he wouldn’t concentrate, he wouldn’t follow instructions,
he wouldn’t sit down, he couldn’t hold a pencil, he couldn’t make friends
with other children, he behaved inappropriately and it was just everyday it
was one thing after another after another. (Parent 7)

IMPACT ON PARENTS AND FAMILIES/WHĀNAU

While identifying those aspects of the parent-school relationship that excluded

their children from and within school, parents also described a number of feelings
and emotions associated with their child’s exclusion and with the breakdown in
their relationship with the school. These included stress, anger, being worn out,
powerlessness and bitterness. For some parents, these feelings had stayed with
them for many years. “We’ve had a lot of sleepless nights, waking up in the early
hours of the morning definitely. It was like we were banging our head on a brick
wall for nothing” (Parent 5).

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ALISON KEARNEY

For me it was just stress, sheer stress and uncertainty of not knowing. The
year that [our child] went to school was just awful. We never knew where the
money was coming from. … Do I look like I need counselling? I could have
done with it years ago. I mean I know, I’ve been really stressed and worn out
but I just I’m pleased I stuck away at it. (Parent 6)
No, I’m still extremely angry with the Principal of the first school,
particularly because it was meant to be a Christian, caring school and it was
anything but. (Parent 7)
I said I was going to take him out of school and the teacher was getting all his
stuff. Making sure all his stuff was packed up and everything, get him out of
here as quickly [as possible]. It was really quite horrible. I felt quite bitter
about it for quite a while really. Especially seeing as my three older ones
went there. You just got sick of it; you know it just wears you down. It’s like
bullying; it just wears you down. (Parent 10)
I felt I was extremely stressed; I used to cry in the car everyday. And so at
IEPs I would just sit there and cry because all this crap was happening I was
powerless! Crying, weight gain, just dreading going and coming from school.
Absolutely dreading it. (Parent 11)
For some parents, their experiences had made them question their effectiveness
as parents.
There are so many comments you’ll see, in the paper about bad parenting, so
they look at me as a bad parent, and I’ve had to battle that for years, thinking
I was a bad parent, but I know I’m not. (Parent 1)
As well as impacting on parents, the experiences they described also impacted on
siblings and wider family/whānau. For some, the issues they experienced impacted
on their whole life. Other parents spoke of the pressure that was felt by siblings
who saw and understood the exclusion that their brother or sister was experiencing.
What they do, they don’t realise, is how much it impacts us as a family. They
just need to be more supportive of the family. It makes it really hard because
our whole lives revolve around it. There are no systems in place. They don’t
cope at intermediate. He’s got no funding now, he’s got nothing now, he’s
going to get there and have nothing. (Parent 1)
That lack of funding led to so many issues that it was unbelievable, and it led
to so much stress on our family life and his sister included. She knew what he
needed at school and could see that he wasn’t getting it. (Parent 6)
My daughter has often said to me that when she used to go to [sibling’s] class
for something, not related to him, the teacher would make sarcastic, remarks
to her. [If] she hung around for like a minute just to say hello to her brother,
or something or even a few seconds, the teacher would make sarcastic
remarks like, “oh you’re joining the juniors now are you?” and they were

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really being rude. My daughter in particular was upset that she felt that he
was being treated nicely and that they were taking it out on her. (Parent 10)
One family considered it necessary for siblings to be in a different school.
[One thing] I am very big on is that siblings do not attend the same school as
their child and initially I thought that was terrible but now [sibling] doesn’t
have to live in his shadow of problems when he chucks pencils and all these
issues. He has got his own little life and they’re brothers and they really like
each other and [sibling] doesn’t have to bear all the problems. (Parent 11)

THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE

All parents thought and worried about the future although many pointed out that
they did not like to think too far ahead. In particular, those parents whose children
were of primary school age were concerned about their children going on to
intermediate school and to secondary school. These concerns were focused on
funding, a lack of necessary help and support. One mother said she was, “Very
nervous. I’m quite aware that he may not get help at Intermediate but I intend to go
there and be quite open about the situation” (Parent 6). Others worried that their
children may have to go into a special unit as opposed to a regular class or school.
“We don’t know [about the future]. This is what has worried us. Probably he may
be better at a unit” (Parent 9).
Some parents also voiced concerns regarding whether their child could continue
to be kept safe. “There are 1400 girls there [secondary school] – she could get lost
in the system” (Parent 3).
So he can go to the High school for various classes, so rather than doing a full
range of subjects we could perhaps just give him say three subjects to do and
do them well and go back to base school for safety and to be with his friends
at lunchtime. (Parent 7)
The risk, the worry I have is that one of these days he is not going to come
home, one of these days he is going to have a major injury and he is going to
go into a status seizure and no one is going to realise. … You know my
biggest concern is that he will become suicidal, and a lot of children do,
because they are not included. (Parent 1)

PARENT-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS AND POWER SHARING

All the parents who contributed to the study, on which this chapter is based, had
experienced barriers to the inclusion of their children in a mainstream school.
When asked to identify and elaborate on these exclusionary pressures, every parent
highlighted factors associated with difficult and adverse parent-school relationships
as important factors excluding their child. The experiences reported by parents in
this study are not new. Literature in the area has repeatedly shown that the issues
identified in this study have been shown to interfere with effective parental

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involvement, partnerships and collaboration (e.g. Bull, Brooking, & Campbell,

2008; Hornby, 2011; New Zealand Education Review Office, 2008). What is new
however, is the suggested link between difficult and adverse parent-school
relationships and disabled children’s exclusion. For the parents in this study, their
exclusion and marginalisation from the parent-school partnership was seen as a
force that excluded and marginalised their child from and within school.
An important aspect of parents’ exclusion was the lack of mutually respectful
relationships between school personnel and themselves. This was demonstrated in
the way that parents’ knowledge was not valued, they were not listened to, and in
the way they were excluded from important decision making processes. It was also
demonstrated in the way that they were not welcomed at school (and in some cases
even discouraged from enrolling their child at the school). Research has clearly
supported the importance of collaborative and mutually respectful relationships
between parents and school personnel (e.g. Mitchell, 2010; Education Review
Office, 2008).
However, despite strong research evidence demonstrating the benefits of
effective parent-school partnerships, the ideal of true partnership is elusive. One of
the major reasons purported for this is the notion of power imbalance. In
relationships where one partner is seen to hold most of the power, collaborative
partnerships are unlikely to occur (Monkman, Ronald & Theramene, 2005). In
their review of the literature into parent involvement in the Individual Education
Plan (IEP) process, Mitchell, Morton and Hornby (2010) found that even though
there is an expectation that parents will work with school personnel on an equitable
basis, this has not happened, and is unlikely to happen as schools hold a dominant
position over parents. Some parents in this study indicated their awareness of the
power held over them and their children by reporting that they were anxious not to
push things too far, lest it made things worse for their child at school.
The experiences of parents reported in this study support the notion that
power sharing and equitable power relations are critical. However, it is somewhat
ironic that the experiences parent reported, appeared to further erode their power,
reinforcing the imbalance and inequity in relationships that existed between
them and the schools. Keen (2007) has also reported this phenomenon where
her research showed that inequitable power relationships could discourage
parent involvement in decision-making, which further entrenched any power
imbalance.
It is apparent that the experiences of parents as highlighted in this study have
impacted on their lives and the lives of their families. Parents spoke of the
emotional and physical energy that fighting for the rights of their children required,
and how this elicited feelings of anger, hurt, powerlessness and bitterness. Some
parents reported being worn out. The notion that parents of disabled students need
to struggle and battle for their child’s educational entitlements is widely reported
by disability support advocates, and human rights agencies. For example many
parent disability organisations provide advice to parents on how they can fight for
their child’s rights, and advocacy and human rights organisations report that
complaints of discrimination against disabled students within education form a

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major part of their work (New Zealand Human Rights Commission, 2009). This
must be challenged. The need for parents to fight for their children’s rights to
education, or fund the realisation of these rights is completely contrary to the
principles of inclusive education.

CONCLUSION

This study has shown how a breakdown in effective parent-school relationships can
be a force in the exclusion of disabled students from and within school. As
effective parent-school partnerships are critically dependent on the agency of
teachers, their knowledge, understandings and attitudes (Alton-Lee, 2003),
teachers and other professionals are in a powerful position to make a positive
difference to the facilitation of ongoing effective partnerships with parents. Based
on this understanding, the following recommendations for professionals are
presented.
– Include parents as equal partners in important decisions regarding their
children.
– Focus on the strengths of disabled students, and in communications with
parents; acknowledge the strengths, talents and interests of disabled students.
– Acknowledge and respect the knowledge and expertise of parents, particularly
in relation to the strengths and needs of their children.
– Listen to parents and be respectful of their opinions, values and beliefs.
– Welcome parents and their disabled children into the school community.
– Be aware of the power imbalance that can be present between parents and
schools and seek to redress this imbalance.
– Be fully informed of the legislative and human rights of disabled students and
ensure that all practices are aligned with these.
This chapter has demonstrated a link between a breakdown in parent-school
relationships and the exclusion and marginalisation of disabled students from and
within school. If progress is to be made towards more inclusive education systems,
there needs to be a greater focus on effective parent-school relationships. This will
require a greater emphasis on the development of relationships based on mutual
trust, respect, collaboration and a sharing of power.

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Alison Kearney
Institute of Education
Massey University

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