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Limited But Committed Parents: Primary School Teachers Negotiating Good Parenthood in a Disadvantaged Area

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Doing Good Parenthood

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life ((PSFL))

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Abstract

This chapter scrutinises primary school teachers’ discourse on good and poor parenthood in a disadvantaged area with a high percentage of migrant families. The analysis shows that teachers’ notions of good parenthood are intertwined with their notions of parental involvement. In contrast with much of the existing literature, the analysis illustrates how the teachers repeatedly justify and excuse inadequate parental involvement. Moreover, they repeatedly reflect on how they, as teachers, can adapt their activities to suit the needs and wishes of parents. The study proposes that activities and informative measures, which facilitate parents’ influence, contribute to parental involvement. Since parents are a heterogeneous group, school leadership and teachers have to take a flexible stance regarding involvement and good parenting. The results indicate that it is important to further investigate reciprocity in home–school relations and parental involvement.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The data collection was funded by the Swedish National Institute of Public Health. The author wishes to thank the teachers who took part in the study.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden

    Disa Bergnehr

Authors
  1. Disa Bergnehr
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Correspondence to Disa Bergnehr .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thematic Studies – Child Studies, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Anna Sparrman

  2. Center for Childhood, Youth & Family Research, Department of People & Technology, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Allan Westerling

  3. Department of Thematic Studies – Child Studies, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Judith Lind

  4. Department of Educational Anthropology, School of Education, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Karen Ida Dannesboe

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Bergnehr, D. (2016). Limited But Committed Parents: Primary School Teachers Negotiating Good Parenthood in a Disadvantaged Area. In: Sparrman, A., Westerling, A., Lind, J., Dannesboe, K. (eds) Doing Good Parenthood. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46774-0_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46774-0_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46773-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46774-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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