2025/05/15 by Talia Kelly · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Parental Involvement in Education
paper · doi:10.1080/17439884.2025.2505554
openalex publication_date 2025/05/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
England’s state primary schools are settings characterised by intensive data production increasingly curated by digital platforms. While much research has focused on how datafication is reshaping schools and childhood, this study examines the impact of platformised systems on the parent–child relationship. Using Deleuze’s work on control societies, a comparative case study design was employed to explore parental and staff consciousness of data practices in primary education, their role in reshaping family values and the resultant sociocultural implications. Data was generated through interviews and documentary analysis of learning platform SeeSaw and its promotional materials. Results demonstrate that platformised education compels a profound shift in the interrelationships between parents, children and teachers by emphasising responsibilised over responsive practices of care. Accordingly, it reconfigures the parent–child relationship by escalating performative regimes with significant consequences for interfamily tension. These findings contribute to contemporary debates on the politics, problems and potential of data-driven approaches when raising and educating children.