Chapter 5: Fathers’ And Teachers’ Perception about Their Partnership in Secondary Schools in Spain

Traditionally, fathers and mothers played a differential role regarding family responsibilities and children’s education, being the necessary collaboration between families and schools mainly performed by mothers. The gendered distribution of family responsibilities was recognized by the Committee of Experts on Children and Families of the Council of Europe (Day, 2006), when trying to support effective parenting in European countries. This initiative, stated in the Recommendation (2006)/19 of the Council of Europe, includes parental involvement at schools and partnerships as an important measure to be promoted. According to this recommendation, the concept of “positive parenting” centers around parental behavior that is respectful of the child’s best interests and rights as articulated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and also considering the parents’ needs and resources.