Ευθυμία Πεντέρη, The connection between school and family and the question of their cooperation: Critical presentation of basic theoretical models, Έρευνα στην Εκπαίδευση, 1|2013,

Family-school relationship constitutes a dynamic, developmental process that reflects the social, political, economic conditions of the historical period in which this relationship is examined. Beliefs and values that underlie the roles, the interactions and the goals of the two settings with reference to children’s education, determine the context of their connection and offer a different meaning and conceptions to the term collaboration which is used to describe this connection. Different approaches have been proposed to capture the dimensions, the levels and the types of this connection. The purpose of the present study is to provide a brief, critical review of some of the most known theoretical models that refer to the relationship between the family and school setting. These approaches summarize the developments of the educational and psychological research from the mid ‘90s until nowadays. The six models that are presented herewith were selected on the grounds of their contribution in the study and understanding of the family-school collaboration. The paper argues that there is a divergence between the various models with regard to the way they perceive this “collaboration”. Implications concerning the use of these models to the everyday educational practice, the psycho-pedagogical research and the educational policy are outlined.