Conference Agenda

Parent/Guardians’ Associations in schools serve as a platform of contribution to school related matters and school decision-making. Much of their role in most educational systems that we have studied, including European, North American and others, irrespectively to the name they run under (either Parent, or Guardian, or Family or sometime Parent-Teacher associations), advocate for resources, support educational initiatives, and play a key role in building relationships among teachers and families (Álvarez-Álvarez, 2019; Deslandes, 2019; Epstein, 2018; Zare & Izadi, 2017). It has been claimed that Parent/Guardians’ Associations relate to the enhancement of school programs, the encouragement of active parental and family involvement in schools, and the nurturing of an inclusive school culture ultimately driving positive outcomes for children (Eziuzo & Enueme, 2013; Okendu, 2012). This literature sites many factors that may contribute and impact parental/family participation in their children’s school Parent/Guardians’ Associations, including: the family’s socioeconomic, financial and educational status (with parents of middle and higher socioeconomic strata to be more likely to be actively involved compared to their lower-income parents who face financial constraints, rigid work schedules, and transportation difficulties to actively participate); the family structure (with single-parent and non-traditional families to tend to have lower participation in their children’s school Parent/Guardians’ Associations due to added pressures); the number of children in the family (with families with more children to have limited time and resources available for being actively participating); parental professional responsibilities related to full-time employment and demanding work schedules leading to reduced opportunities of engagement; the ethnic and migration background of the family (with immigrant parents often participating less, partly due to differing cultural norms and expectations about school and family roles); the family language (with families not speaking the school official language having limited language proficiency to understand the complex school terminology and communicate effectively in the Associations’ doings); the cultural perceptions of families regarding school–parent/family roles (with some cultural groups viewing family-school collaboration as strictly formal and discouraging on engaging); overall family perceptions of parental role with Parent/Guardians’ Associations participation heavily depending on how parents see their role in their children's education and their perceived ability to support academic success; gender, with women -especially white mothers with higher education and income- to be more actively involved than men in Parent/Guardians’ Associations; parental previous experiences in Parent/Guardians’ Associations (with parents with such negative experience to avoid involvement); the relationships of the school staff with parents with positive and respectful relationships to encourage participation in Parent/Guardians’ Associations, while negative or hierarchical relationships discouraging it; as well as parental awareness and training, with schools with families that are involved in personal educational activities be more understanding of their role in Parent/Guardians’ Associations. Thus, studies highlight potential drawbacks that can arise in Parent/Guardians’ Associations operation, including exacerbating inequalities within the school community, as well as between schools (Essuman, 2019; Goldstein, 2017; Murray, 2019; Woyshner & Cucchiara, 2017).

Despite the existing literature on the factors influencing parents' participation in Parent/Guardians’ Associations, there is comparatively limited research on parental motivation behind their participation in such boards. This paper reports on part of the findings of a mixed-methods study that examined the role of Parent/Guardians’ Associations in primary schools in Cyprus, a European Union member state, and more particularly the findings of the phase of the questionnaire survey on the motivation of parents to serve on the boards of Parent/Guardians’ Associations.

How does the relationship between parents and schools and teachers evolve over time? In what respect are parents vulnerable? What are the methodological implications of such questions? These are the guiding questions the paper intends to address. As the relationship between home and school is dynamic, its investigation should also account for this. The paper discusses the investigation of the development of the home-school-relation from a more methodological perspective.

The proposed paper is based on a project that examines how parents' trust in schools and teachers develops during their child's transition from primary to secondary school. It assumes that the nature, extent and development of the trusting relationship between parents and school is being put to the test during this sensitive phase of a child's educational biography and that the conditions for change therefore can be studied in detail. The results of the project will primarily relate to research and development in the context of educational and parental partnerships, school development and teacher professionalisation, and will help to close a relevant gap in interdisciplinary trust research. Although the proposed paper will also refer to the relationship between the parental home and school, the presentation will focus primarily on methodological issues arising from the longitudinal nature of the qualitative study.

In particular, the paper deals briefly, on the one hand, with the challenges of sampling heterogeneous parents for a longitudinal interview study, data collection, incentivisation and panel mortality. On the other hand, it goes more into detail concerning the analysis of cases (parents) and patterns of cases over time (development of parents' trust in schools and teachers). Regarding the latter, it shows a) what types of parental trust in schools and teachers at T1 (first data collection) could be determined on the basis of two theoretically defined tertium comparationis (trust, vulnerability), b) how the individual cases developed from T1 to T2 [second data collection], and c) what assessment perspectives this yields for both T3 (third data collection) and the overall analysis.

Based on preliminary results of the project, the variants and challenges of longitudinal, qualitative analysis and typology formation are discussed in detail.

Family engagement in education has long been recognised as a key factor in students’ development. Numerous studies examining teaching and learning processes have identified a significant relationship between family engagement and students’ academic achievement (see, for example, Jeynes, 2012; Patall et al. 2008). However, research findings remain inconclusive and, in some cases, contradictory (Hill & Tyson, 2009).

Moreover, not all parents engage in their children’s education in the same way. It is therefore reasonable to expect differences both in the forms of parental engagement and in their effects (Epstein, 2011). Although there is still no definitive evidence regarding which types of engagement are most effective, research suggests that quality rather than quantity of engagement is the crucial factor influencing educational success and generating positive outcomes for students (Pomerantz et al., 2007; Knollmann & Wild, 2007).

Within this context, the teaching profession occupies a central role. Through their everyday practice, teachers create opportunities for interaction, establish channels of communication, and promote different forms of family engagement (Hornby & Lafaele, 2011). It is therefore important to understand how the quality of family engagement depends, to a large extent, on teachers’ professional competences in working with families (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997). This also requires identifying what these competences entail and the specific skills they include (Epstein, 2011).

Despite the importance of these competences, the literature indicates that many teachers lack the specific preparation needed to carry out this aspect of their role effectively (Baum & Swick, 2007; Vallespir-Soler & Morey-López, 2019). Recent research suggests that this situation may generate uncertainty and restrict collaborative practices to basic information-sharing activities (García-Segura & Ruiz, 2020). At the same time, the role of experience in building confidence when working with families should not be overlooked (Gomariz et al., 2022).

Considering these, it is pertinent to ask to what extent teachers feel prepared to foster family engagement. It is also important to explore which variables may be associated with a stronger sense of professional competence in this area. Accordingly, the aim of this study is twofold: (1) to examine the degree to which primary education teachers consider themselves prepared to involve families in the educational process, and (2) to analyse which variables are associated with a higher perceived level of competence for family engagement.

International research has consistently highlighted home–school collaboration as a key component of inclusive and equitable education systems across different educational contexts. Successful collaboration between home and school is beneficial for students’ well-being, learning, and behaviour, and it can improve teachers’ job performance and job satisfaction. However, home-school collaboration has been described as complex, tense, and stressful for teachers and parents alike. Parents whose child has special educational needs experience collaborative relations with teachers even more challenging than other parents. These challenges have been documented across countries, although the forms and expectations of collaboration vary depending on national education systems and cultural norms.

Even though home-school collaboration is nowadays often technologically mediated, the importance of face-to-face communication should not be underestimated. In this study, we focus on one specific form of home-school collaboration, namely parent-teacher meetings. By parent-teacher meetings, we mean meetings between a teacher and the parent(s) of one student at a time. They take place inside the school building and are most often 10-20 minutes long, teacher-initiated meetings. This particular form of collaboration is internationally well known to parents and the most common form of two-way communication between parents and teachers. Despite the ideals of equal partnership, previous international research has shown that teachers tend to have the role of an expert in the meetings: they are in charge and control the situation by selecting topics, deciding who will speak, and focusing on the knowledge they possess. Due to the asymmetrical power relations, teachers also have more responsibility of the communication: they are expected to be rational and able to communicate well.

In this research, our aim is to find out what characterizes an unsuccessful parent-teacher meeting and what suggestions Finnish compulsory school students’ parents (n=558) have for making the meetings more successful. By focusing on the Finnish context, this study contributes context-sensitive knowledge to international discussions on home–school collaboration and parent–teacher interaction. The research questions are: 1) What characterizes an unsuccessful parent-teacher meeting according to parents? and 2) What suggestions do parents have for making meetings between teachers and parents successful? We also examine the differences between the views of parents whose children have special needs (n=182) and those whose children do not (n=376).

The data were gathered by electronic questionnaires during December 2023- June 2024 and analysed by means of qualitative content analysis.