Exploring resilience: How five secondary schools resiliently shaped school-family partnerships with parents of disadvantaged students during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

This study investigated how Dutch secondary schools have shown resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, by safeguarding and shaping school-family partnerships with parents of students who were at risk of educational disadvantage. We focused on three mechanisms of resilience (e.g., cognitive responding, behavioural responding, contextual reinforcement) and three dimensions of school -family partnerships (e.g., basic condition for learning, communication, home involvement). We applied a multiple case study design and collected data through group interviews with school board members, teachers, students, and parents in five schools. The results showed that schools responded resiliently in shaping basic conditions for learning and communication with parents of disadvantaged students in particular. However, it was difficult for schools to encourage parents of disadvantaged students to support their children in learning at home. Further, a strong cognitive response and a strong internal or external network of the school were important preconditions for shaping educational partnership with parents of disadvantaged students.