The Project

The main target of the project is to analyse the integration, communication and involvement of foreign-origin families in schools, so that proposals for transformation can be detected and carried out to avoid the disadvantage that often affects families with this profile (social inclusion of the families). Considering that greater involvement of families also influences academic performance, the project also is designed to help to avoid premature abandoning of school, as well as enabling the reduction of the socio-cultural disadvantages that affect a significant proportion of foreign-origin pupils. As is logical, the way to achieve this target is to attempt to improve the training of the professionals to make them take this situation into consideration and provide them with the knowledge and strategies to favour communication with, and involvement of, the families in their children’s school projects.

It starts from the idea that the integration and involvement of all the agents in the schools generates benefits for the families, pupils, professionals in the school and the dynamic of the centre. Given this, the priorities selected refer to reinforcing the three educational agents: the professionals (to make them value and be more receptive to the benefits of a greater involvement of all the families and the democratisation of the schools; in other words, to help them to develop their social and intercultural powers, essential in the current educational contexts), the families (who are also empowered and feel closer to the school, which will suppose enhancing their active citizenship and the inclusion of this group in different spheres of society) and the pupils (who are indirectly empowered and visualise the importance of being involved in the school and in society through the teachers and their families).