Beyond the barriers of deficit orientedness? Comparing distinct teacher approaches of parental involvement

Abstract

Researchers in the 1980s identified strong school-parent relations as a significant potential in the church sector, but this potential has not received enough attention in the European context. However, a serious obstacle to this partnership can be the unpreparedness, overwork, and deficit orientation of teachers, as well as their narrow-mindedness towards parents. Our analysis, based on Epstein’s typology of parental involvement, focuses on the question whether partnership with parents in church-run schools shows any differences from that in state schools. Our qualitative research involved semi-structured interviews with teachers from 32 primary schools. Despite the similarities between school providers, we detected differences between church-run and state schools regarding Epstein’s types of parental involvement. While in the former sector, schools appeared more active in creating a parental community, the latter was characterised by formal and individual ways of parental participation. The practical result of our research is that the parent-school partnership is an area in need of improvement and that different school providers can learn from each other’s good practices.