This paper will explore the promotion of parental involvement for migrant parents in school environments in six-countries using data from the IMMERSE H2020 research project. While research has demonstrated a positive relationship between parental involvement and students’ academic achievement across ethnic groups (Wilder, 2014), parents of migrant children can often face more
barriers to becoming involved in their children’s education than non-migrant parents (Turney and Kao,
2010; Alexander et al., 2017). Language barriers for example, can be a key obstacle to parental engagement in their children’s education (Taguma et al. 2011; Antony-Newman, 2019). In addition,
Hornby and Lafaele (2011) contend that parental involvement activities and programmes which are not inclusive of other cultures are less effective and impactful.
The research will draw on data from 149 School Principal Surveys in six countries (Ireland, Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany and Belgium). The data explores how schools engage with migrant parents
including the variety of channels for parental involvement (homework support, information on children’s progress, requests for parental volunteers and opportunities to participate in decisionmaking) offered by these schools. The research also explores whether these channels for parental engagement are adapted to migrant parent’s needs. In addition, the paper will draw on qualitative and quantitative research with parents to further explore these issues.
Findings from the Irish qualitative data indicated that the migrant parents were generally positive about their relationships and interactions with their children’s teachers. Irish schools provided the highest number of channels
for parental engagement with 90% of schools providing all four channels, compared to an average of 72% across the other countries. However, the Irish schools also reported the lowest levels of cultural and language adaptations of these channels for parental engagement indicating that migrant parents
might face barriers in engaging in these activities.