Outsourcing the State’s responsibilities? Third sector organizations supporting migrant families’ participation in schools in Catalonia and London

Based on two case studies of Third Sector Organizations (TSOs) working with schools and parents in Catalonia and London, this paper aims to discuss some of the implications of ‘participative’ programs aimed at involving those migrant families seen by schools as ‘hard to reach’. Firstly, we describe how an ambiguous notion of participation can shift responsibilities to families and leave internal school practices free from critical gaze. Secondly, we focus on the complexities and tensions involved in the process of partnering TSOs with schools, because of the bureaucratic nature of educational institutions and unresolved conflicts of interests and responsibilities. Finally, we argue that the potential of these initiatives were limited and diluted by being stand-alone and time-limited. Our analysis suggests that, in spite of their apparent success, they ended up being part of powerful authorizing narratives that justify the outsourcing of public services and the abdication of State’s responsibilities.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Compare: a Journal of Comparative and International Education on 16/03/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03057925.2016.1152883