Citation

Saltmarsh S, Tualaulelei E, Ayre K. Aust. Educ. Res. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Australian Association for Research in Education, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s13384-020-00415-7

PMID

33262555

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of one mother's experience of engaging with her children's schools after leaving a long-term relationship characterised by years of family violence perpetrated by the children's father. We interviewed Bernadette as part of an ongoing study of parents' experiences of school engagement during family separation and divorce. Her family circumstances and the role the children's schools played in that story merit consideration by educators, school leaders and education policy makers. Informed by theories of everyday cultural practices and sociological studies of gendered power relations in education, we argue that gender politics and organisational strategies for keeping parents 'in their place' can significantly contribute to systemic failures and school cultures that reinscribe the effects of family violence.

Language: en

Keywords

Gender; Complicity; Divorce; Family violence; Parent engagement; Relationship dissolution