Too much parental cooperation? Parent–teacher cooperation and how it influences professional responsibility among Danish schoolteachers

Abstract

Parental participation is a fundamental principle of the Danish folkeskole (for children aged 6–16), yet this article explores how too much parental cooperation influences the relationship of teachers to their professional responsibility. The majority of research on parent–teacher cooperation has focused on parents’ opportunities to participate in school life, but little is known about what teachers think about such collaboration, and how imbalances in power and authority in parent–teacher cooperation influence teachers’ professionalism. The use of reflexive autoethnographic accounts, participant observation and document analysis during a four-year period in one school provided emic insight into the, often invisible, social processes of power. Semi-structured interviews with teachers in a second school were also conducted. Drawing on a body of interrelated work focusing on Bourdieu, situated learning theory and literature about professional studies, the findings suggest that parent–teacher communities can be understood as stratified fields which provide different and complex spaces for exerting power and domination. Although power in these communities is constantly negotiated, professional responsibility may be lost when parents occupy central positions in parent–teacher collaborations.

The undergraduate dissertation as a reflection of education for sustainability and professional identity: the faculty of education of Bilbao

“…These have been raising the level of demand both of the tutor and of the panel who assess the “final product” (Reyes Garcia and Diaz Megolla, 2020). This has happened because of the growing concern and involvement of the Faculty in trying to recover, in part, the prestige lost by the teaching profession (Punakallio and Dervin, 2015; Dahl, 2017), which is seen as a profession without sufficient social impact, good working conditions, simplicity of both the tasks and functions performed and whose academic requirements for certification are considered less demanding (Villardón-Gallego, 2018) and of a lower academic level than other undergraduate degrees.…”

“…In this sense, the development and maintenance of professional identity in today’s complex educational world is a great global challenge (Dahl, 2020). This is because, among other reasons, at an international level, teachers no longer feel recognised for their work, and the profession has lost its attractiveness and prestige (Punakallio and Dervin, 2015; Dahl, 2017).…”

Parent–teacher relationships in school micropolitics: beginning teachers’ stories

“…Parents and teachers may have different interests and engage in attempts-formally or informally-to influence others and protect themselves; to achieve their goals and interests (Blase, 1991). Dahl (2017) concludes that power is constantly negotiated in parent-teacher relationships, but teachers' professional responsibility may be lost when parents occupy central positions in the collaboration. Parents may also feel disempowered.…”

Teachers’ Cooperation With Parents of Students With Special Educational Needs

“…Thus, in the opinion of many authors, successful education of the child is inconceivable without the cooperation of the student's family and teachers, however, often in the process of cooperation there are challenges for both teachers and students' parents. According to Dahl (2017), not only for parents but also for teachers, the goals and structure of cooperation are often unclear, their expectations and responsibilities are not defined.…”