Parent-Teacher Communications in the Digital Age: Exploring Inequality and Engagement for Migrant Families

This article investigates the impact of digitalization in parent-teacher communications on the patterns and characteristics of involvement and engagement among low-income, low-educated parents with a migratory background in secondary schools. It specifically examines the dual impact of digitalization in public schools, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges it presents, particularly in reinforcing or mitigating existing inequalities that hinder migrant parents' involvement. The research builds upon existing literature concerning parental involvement in children’s education, a multifaceted concept (Epstein, 1987) with distinctive features for migrant parents (Kao, 2009). Past studies have focused primarily on the role of migrant parents in supporting their children’s learning at home and how this influences academic performance (e.g., Fibbi & Truong, 2015; Molla et al., 2022; Hebert et al., 2022). However, comparatively less attention has been given to the characteristics and patterns of parent-teacher communications. When addressed, these studies have focused on either the pre-COVID period (when most home-school communications occurred in person) or the pandemic period (which shifted entirely to online formats). In this context, the article expands research on migrant parental engagement, focusing on migrant parent-teacher communication. It is one of the first studies to explore how these communications have evolved from the pandemic period through the post-COVID transition and into the current hybrid scenario of digital (online) and in-person interactions. By illuminating how, and to what extent, the digitalization of parent-teacher communication reinforces or mitigates existing inequalities, the article underscores the crucial challenges and opportunities for engagement faced by migrant parents in a context of digital and hybrid interactions. The research is conducted at a secondary vocational school, in Molenbeek, Brussels. It relies on semi-structured interviews with both teachers and migrant parents. It aims to reveal the opportunities and challenges posed by digitally-mediated communications, identifying recurring themes and differences between online and offline interactions.