Describes a study which surveyed British parents about their educational and occupational aspirations for their children, their views on sexual equality, and their children's out-of-school activities. The messages which children receive about gender from their homes are contradictory, but not as uniformly traditional as many teachers assume.…

Reports on a study of "parent evenings," or parent-teacher consultations, examining the structure using audio-recordings. Identifies similarities with doctor-patient consultations. Argues that teachers do not maintain control of the conferences and that issues of power, identity, competence, and moral conflict are at stake. (CMK)

Compares different levels of student involvement among "academically able" students at two schools. Uses data from these to make connections among the cultures of the schools, family perceptions, and subsequent forms of student involvement. Argues that these connections provide a way to understand facets of respondents' orientations to…

Analyzes the patterns and variations of "grapevining," or social networks, through interviews with 172 parents who were in the process of choosing secondary schools for their children. Finds that there are three types of parent responses to using the grapevine as a means for school choice: (1) suspicion; (2) doubt; and (3) acceptance. (CMK)

While recognition of the need to involve parents in the life of the school grows in public policy, anxiety continues at the intervention of 'the angry parent'. This paper seeks to develop understanding of this communicative action and apply it to a study of parental voice in schools that identified a number of expressions of 'storming'. The paper…