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A Phenomenological Study of Parents' Experience with Interagency Case Planning
by David Philpott
A hermeneutic phenomenological research method was used to examine the question
"What is the experience of parents in the interagency case planning model currently
used in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador?" To explore this question eight
parents of children diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) who are
currently receiving support under this plan participated in the study. The purpose
was to gain an understanding of parents' perspectives of this approach and how it
affects collaboration and empowerment. Through qualitative data analysis themes
emerged in three distinct phases - process, coping and outcomes.
Themes in the process phase were:
- Having a child with OCD radically alters the interactions of parent and teacher,
changing the space that exists between the two from being shared, to negotiated to
being contested.
- Parents are disillusioned with a breakdown between policy and practice.
- Newfoundland's case planning model results in a politicization of care.
- The adoption of a game metaphor makes it possible for parents to remain engaged.
- The model sets teachers up for failure.
Coping phase themes were:
- "Detached Vigilance" to the process occurs where parents become watchful of the system and separated from their emotional reactions to it.
- Parents strategically re-work Newfoundland's case planning model to suit their child's needs
- Parents have to privatize support for their child
- Professional expertise is replaced by parent expertise.
- Parents see teachers as not being accountable
Outcomes phase themes were:
- Parents discover "power within" during their strategic game playing
- Pedagogical relationships require careful nurturing.
These findings expand our understanding of the experiences of parents in collaborative case
planning and offer a challenge to educators to remain sensitive to the pedagogical significance of
our interactions with families. It explores the space that exists between parents and teachers,
defining it as contested space despite a model that articulates collaboration and role parity.
E-Mail: philpott@mun.ca
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