Types of parent-school cooperation and possibilities of parental participation in German-speaking Switzerland: An extensive analysis of cantonal regulations

Abstract

The organization of school-parents cooperation is considered as one of the central domains of today’s school development (Wilder, 2014). This study explores how parent and school cooperation is legally regulated in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and discusses possibilities of parental participation. The qualitative content analysis is based on totally 62 documents from 21 cantons (from the years 2005-2019). Findings indicate that cantonal regulations vary regarding the level of elaboration and types of collaboration. This research presents an overview of the current regulations of parent-school cooperation in the German-speaking cantons for actors in education and provides a sound foundation for school development.