School Entry, a Nest for the Educational Alliance Between School and Families? The Disturbing Role of What School Does Not Say

Abstract

Strengthening the collaboration between school and families is a widely recommended measure to prevent school dropout, in particular for students from minority families. An ethnographical research in a school located in Freiburg (Switzerland) aims to understand how the family-school relationship builds up during the first year of schooling. The analysis of a transition practice offered by school to facilitate school-entry shows that much remains unspoken, which weakens the beginning of the relation. The concept of institutional ethnocentrism is suggested to understand why, in spite of its expressed intent, school does not succeed in creating conditions for an educational alliance with parents who are not familiar with school culture.