From ‘objects’ to ‘subjects’ of professional formation : parents as co-producers of knowledge

Abstract

Elsewhere, I made the case for parent-professional encounters that respond to the need for transforming top-down, professional-parent relationships into opportunities for genuine collaboration. For this to happen, the process of knowledge production needs to be revisited, challenging the almost exclusive legitimacy given to specialized, esoteric knowledge, at the expense of other forms of knowledge production, and questioning why ‘official knowledge’, perceived as robust, objective and scientific, does not include the daily experiences, intuitions and cultural expressions of parents as ‘worthwhile knowledge’ or as valid ways of knowing. The present piece problematizes the arbitrary nature of what is considered as valid knowledge, while raising questions regarding the extent to which official knowledge reflects and reinforces asymmetrical power relations.