Affluent parents' advocacy for special-education children's rights vis-a-vis placement-committees in Israel

Abstract

This article focuses on the strategies that Israeli parents of children with high functioning communication disorders apply in their negotiations with municipal placement-committees, in order to realize their right to be fully involved in matters concerning their children's schooling. Our claim is that the parents introduce into the negotiation process alternatives to the professional discourse inherent in the committee's working culture. The alternative discourse rests on the self-awareness of the parents to their cultural capital and their understanding of a democratic culture, which reinforces their perception of city officials' duties to grant them educational services which accord with their world view. Our study distinguishes between formal and informal strategies of action that assist the parents turning from passive subjects who accept the committee's decisions into active individuals who establish a culture of resistance.