Learning from Families: Pre-Service Teachers’ First Interactions with Parents

Abstract

Parent involvement is essential to student success. However, it is also often a struggle for even the most experienced teacher to get parents involved. There are many barriers to parent involvement including issues related to parents finding the time, understanding its importance, and speaking a different language in the home. That is the reality of teaching. However, early and frequent field experiences for pre-service teachers involving parents can provide an opportunity for pre-service teachers to learn to identify issues, appreciate the importance of parents in the education of their children, and help pre-service teachers commit to the practice of parent involvement (Baum & Swick, 2008). This study offered an initial experience for preservice teachers that provided them valuable insights about parent involvement and added an important dimension to pre-service teachers' class discussions about working with families.