Collaborative Autonomy–Support–A Pivotal Approach in the Legislation Regulating School–Home Collaboration in Norwegian Upper Secondary Schools

Abstract

This article explores how current legislation addresses adolescents’ need for support in upper secondary school through school–home collaboration and introduces the framework of collaborative autonomy–support as the pivotal approach for analyses. Self-determination theory is used to describe adolescents’ need for competence, relatedness and autonomy. The study involved a document analysis in which Norwegian legislation was deconstructed through the lens of pedagogy in order to consider how legislative enactment challenges professional educational practices. The study uncovered three tensions in the legislation: the adolescents’ self-determination versus parental obligations, parents’ lack of formal representation in upper secondary school, and different directions in language used about parents in school. The article illuminates how legislation promotes adolescents’ autonomy, intrinsic motivation and volitional functioning.