Researching teachers' and parents' perceptions of dialogue

Abstract

While there has been a great deal of research done on parent involvement and the challenges of conducting effective dialogue in parent–teacher meetings, less attention has been paid to how teachers and parents themselves perceive dialogue. The purpose of the present article is to study whether deliberative principles are vital to teachers' and parents' perceptions of dialogue. The study seeks to answer this question by initiating qualitative interviews with teachers and parents. The findings show that deliberative principles are definitively vital to the participants' perceptions of dialogue. They include basic deliberation values and procedural aspects of deliberation. However, it must be noted that the informants also include aspects that are not highlighted as core elements of deliberation, especially the importance of good relational qualities and informal talk. They also assign the professional a moderator role in parent–teacher meetings. Practical implications are discussed.

Keywords:

• dialogue
• parent–teacher meeting
• deliberation
• procedural
• values
• mutual understanding

Notes on contributor

Anne Dorthe Tveit, PhD, is Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway. Her research is in the areas of dialogue, parent involvement, multidisciplinary collaboration and professional practice.