Parental Silence and Withdrawal in Inclusive Education: A Qualitative Exploration of Non-Participation in Pakistani Schools

Abstract

Parental engagement is often considered as a pillar in the effective inclusive education, but not much attention has been paid to some parents who continue being not engaged or even disengage with the process of engaging. This paper examines the parental silence and withdrawal in inclusive primary and secondary schools in Pakistan paying attention to non-participation as a social phenomenon to be practiced but not a lack of interest. The study issue revolves around the fact that the discourse of inclusive education always focuses on interpreting the aspect of parents non-involvement as disengagement, which does not take into consideration such structural, cultural, and emotional determinants that predetermine participation. The main aim of the paper was to study the meaning of parental silence as perceived by teachers and school administrators and meaning of withdrawal as perceived and rationalized by parents. A qualitative research design was used in gathering the data which followed the semi-structured interviews with parents, teachers and school leaders of both the public and private schools in Pakistan. This study had its assumption that parental participation is mediated socially and culturally with the boundary conditions being influenced by power relations, institutional norm, and disability stigma. This finding shows that parental silence is usually a sign of fear of being labeled, distrust of institutions, and a sense of powerlessness and not apathy. These findings are based on new global findings on silent participation and bring in country specific findings in Pakistan. The research paper finds that the concept of silence as a communicational event is critical to creating more inclusive and sensitive family-school partnerships.