Abstract

This paper discusses the production of meaning concerning relationships between families and schools in Chile. We analyse 25 articles corresponding to the Chilean scientific production of 9 authors since the beginning of the 2000s. The analysis uses the Funds of Knowledge approach as an interpretive framework and is guided by the following questions: who are the agents involved? why do they relate to each other? what is their purpose?, and how is this relationship expressed? Findings highlight how the concept of family is configured and how it is used. Regarding the first, we see an imbalance between the precision with which the school is defined and imprecision regarding the family. Concerning the second, we highlight an instrumental logic in the relationship. The studies refer to the family in general terms, assuming consensus in its definition. It is concluded that research as a social task has a performative effect, contributing to the naturalization of the family under the principle of functionality/dysfunctionality. The results invite us to raise suspicions about the notion of family crystallized in research and to open up to the subjective experience of the subjects and to avoid normative and traditional definitions.