Parent–teacher relationships in international schools in Cyprus: challenges and opportunities

ABSTRACT

We examined parent–teacher relationships in international schools in Cyprus, using semi-structured interviews to capture the thoughts and perspectives of teachers and mothers. The study adds to the literature on parent–teacher relationships by employing [Goodall, J., and C. Montgomery. 2014. “Parental Involvement to Parental Engagement: A Continuum.” Educational Review 66 (4): 399–410] theoretical framework. Results revealed a dissonance, among both groups, between a desire for meaningful and substantial parental engagement with schooling, and a reality characterised by limited parental involvement. This appears to result from structural limitations in schools, and cultural differences between teachers and parents. By shining a spotlight on challenges in parent–teacher relationships, we urge researchers to find mechanisms to strengthen this relationship.

KEYWORDS:

• International schools
• parent–teacher relationships
• Cyprus
• parental engagement

Introduction

The dramatic increase in the number of new international schools being established (Bunnell 2022) has been paralleled by the emergence of research literature on international schools (Adams and Velarde 2021; Bunnell 2021; Bunnell, Donnelly, and Lauder 2021; Elerian and Solomou 2022; Gibson and Bailey 2021; Wright, Ma, and Auld 2022). Some studies have focused on aspects unique to international schools, such as the conceptualisation of the desired student in regard to international mindedness (IM) (Tarc 2018) or global citizenship education (Yemini, Goren, and Maxwell 2018). Others have examined school leaders (Bunnell 2021; Kelly 2021) and teachers, including aspects of their professional and personal lives (Poole and Bunnell 2021; Rey, Bolay, and Gez 2020; Tarc and Mishra Tarc 2015).

Yet little research has addressed the parent–teacher relationship in international schools. Extant studies have primarily focused on issues like parental selection of international schools (Ezra 2007; MacKenzie, Hayden, and Thompson 2003; Potter and Hayden 2004), although McIntosh and Hayden (2022) considered the relationship between teachers and parents in international schools through the perceptions of IB (International Baccalaureate) international school staff. We (Hagage Baikovich and Yemini 2022) recently published a study from an educational sociology perspective that examined this relationship in international schools through the eyes of expatriate parents (Hagage Baikovich and Yemini 2022). It examined the parent–teacher relationship through the perspective of the school as a field, with parents and teachers as players within the field who compete for power, control, and influence (Hagage Baikovich and Yemini 2022).

All these studies have focused on aspects of parental involvement from a single perspective. Here, we consider the teacher–parent relationship from both perspectives by utilising the concept of parental engagement (Goodall 2013, 2017). Our aim is to contribute further insights into parent–school relationships in the unique educational setting of international schools, where both parents and teachers have distinctive characteristics as a cohort. This approach has developed a framework based on a holistic pedagogical approach to teacher–parent partnerships (Levinthal and Kuusisto 2020), treating the relationship between parents and teachers as mutual: in terms of two-way learning, their mutual interest in each other’s opinions, and in their students’ successes, both academic and extra curricula (Goodall and Montgomery 2014).

We examine a group of international schools in Limassol, Cyprus, in which most students are children of Western expatriates. All are private schools teaching a UK-based curriculum, primarily employing teachers from Commonwealth countries whose native language is English. English is the spoken and written language used in school (Brummitt and Keeling 2013).

Relationships between parents and teachers, and parental involvement

Extensive research has examined the effects of parental involvement on student achievement in school (Anderson and Minke 2007; Goodall and Ghent 2014; Harris and Goodall 2008; Hill and Tyson 2009; Karbach et al. 2013; Wilder 2014); students’ overall development (Jeynes 2012); and the school climate (Hill and Taylor 2004; Houtenville and Hall 2008). These studies all make clear the significant contribution parental involvement has to children’s academic and extra curricula achievements.

However, recent studies point out that there are some disadvantages to parental involvement. For example, Calarco (2020) shows that teachers’ rule enforcement decisions contribute to inequalities in student discipline, with higher-SES (socioeconomic status) students facing fewer disciplinary sanctions than lower-SES students, leading to inequalities in teachers’ punishment and evaluation of students. Other recent studies indicate that intensive parental involvement (also defined as overparenting) is most common among affluent parents, leading to a concentration of advantages and opportunities among highly privileged students (Calarco 2020; Lewis-McCoy 2020; Murray et al. 2019; Posey-Maddox 2013). Furthermore, such overparenting is not necessarily correlated with more optimal student outcomes (Li, Cheng, and Vachon 2023)

Relationships between parents and their children’s teachers are complex (Mandarakas 2014), with great potential for tension and disagreements (Bacon and Causton-Theoharis 2013; Blackmore and Hutchison 2010; Landeros 2011; Macfarlane 2009), especially when parental involvement can also influence school programmes, operations, administrative staff, and teachers’ attachment to their profession (Hornby and Blackwell 2018). Parental involvement can create tension between parents and teachers (Gokturk and Dinckal 2018), leading to teachers feeling threatened, disparaged, or blamed by parents (Aslan 2016). Often, schools become an arena in which a struggle for control and influence develops (Addi-Raccah and Arviv-Elyashiv 2008).

The power dynamic between parents and teachers within a school context has been widely examined (e.g. Auerbach 2007; Baquedano-López, Alexander, and Hernández 2013; Cooper, Riehl, and Hasan 2010), often from a perspective critical of the discourse on parental involvement (Lareau and Calarco 2012). For example, the absence of acknowledgement of the unequal power system in which schools are the authority determining which types of involvement are ‘good’ or ‘right’, and which types are unvaluable or unnecessary (Bakker and Denessen 2007; Posey-Maddox and Haley-Lock 2020). There appears a clear mismatch between the perceptions of parents and schools around levels, and the nature, of parental involvement. These differing perceptions also vary with parents’ backgrounds, past experiences, or culture (Carreón, Drake, and Barton 2005).

While recent qualitative research suggests that socioeconomically advantaged families are more likely than disadvantaged families to be excessively engaged in their children’s education (Calarco 2020; Hamilton 2016; Lareau 2011; Milkie and Warner 2014), other qualitative research suggests that ‘working-class families also strive for the ‘middle-class’ discourses and norms of intensive parenting’ (Lee 2021, 2) while facing multiple challenges to their involvement as parents (Lee 2021, 2022).

Teachers and parents in international schools

In international schools, the picture is even more complex. Attracting students who typically immigrate from overseas, these schools interact with parents cut adrift from their previous family or community-based support systems. Often, international schools must play a key role in encouraging relationships between new parents, usually by participation in joint activities at school (Cox, Steinbugler, and Quinn 2021).

Such international school parents typically present with a diverse set of experiences and expectations around interactions with their children’s school, learning, and curriculum, and many view such an education as social, cultural, or linguistic commodities for their children’s future (Gardner-McTaggart 2016; MacKenzie 2010; Nambissan 2010). It is not surprising, therefore, that differing cultural backgrounds between teachers and parents sometimes cause conflict (Resnik 2012).

Since there are few studies that specifically address parent–teacher relationships in international schools, we reviewed research examining parental involvement in children’s education among immigrants with similar characteristics to expat parents (Antony-Newman 2020; Klein 2008; Yakhnich 2015). Immigrant parents often have varying perceptions of curricula, pedagogy, the role of parents and school, and the expected nature of the interaction between parents and educators, compared to host country teachers (Nesteruk, Marks, and Garrison 2009). Cultural differences lead to situations in which some parents view parental involvement as interfering with the work of teachers, while others view it as a way to help their children (Huntsinger and Jose 2009). Simply, parents often misunderstand teachers’ expectations of them. Antony-Newman (2019) found that immigrant parents face unique challenges around parental involvement due to language barriers, social and cultural gaps, or a lack of familiarity with local education practices. Expatriate parents face many of the same difficulties (Hagage Baikovich and Yemini 2022). However, expatriates are mostly of a higher socioeconomic status and, therefore, tend to be better able to navigate new social and pedagogical environments since they can draw on a repertoire of resources, memberships, and practices to extend their social and class advantage, to give their children a strong head start (Carlson, Gerhards, and Hans 2017; Maxwell and Yemini 2019).

Navigating parent–teacher relationships in school can be challenging for all protagonists. To fully understand this relationship in international schools in Cyprus, it is important to consider the unique and specific characteristics of both teachers and parents in this local context.

Parents with children attending international schools in Limassol are largely expatriates. They left their country of origin, typically to take a ‘better’ job and improve their financial situation (Lijadi and Van Schalkwyk 2018). Their familiarity with Cypriot education systems, curricula, norms, and expectations is usually low (Hagage Baikovich and Yemini 2022). In their countries of origin, they usually belonged to an upper-middle class, had extensive social connections, and were proficient in using that social or cultural capital. They had familiarity with their local education system, they knew how to advance their children academically, they understood which schools were considered superior – they knew how to help their children get ahead. When moving to a new country – and sending their children to a new school – these parents face a challenging situation in the absence of such knowledge. Post move, they lack the social connections they once had to protect or advance their children – the significant resources once at their disposal are no longer pertinent. All of these issues reflect the significant changes that occur once parents move, influencing their involvement in school and their relationships with their children’s teachers (Crozier 1998; Gillies 2012).

On the other side of the fence are teachers. According to Poole and Bunnell (2021), teachers in international schools usually speak native English and are typically from the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the USA (Robertson 2018). Just like parents, they face a variety of challenges including those related to (cultural) acclimatisation (Joslin 2002; Savva 2015, 2013) – adjusting culturally, to a different language, perhaps a different management style or teaching expectations, changed standards of living, or levels of support from colleagues and managers (Dos Santos 2020; Hayden, Rancic, and Thompson 2000; Sahling and De Carvalho 2021). Yet coping with these challenges and difficulties enabled teachers to be more empathetic to immigrants and even increased their levels of intercultural competence (Savva 2017). International school teachers and expatriate parents experience, and cope with, similar changes and challenges, and both often enjoy a higher standard of living post move (Rey, Bolay, and Gez 2020; Sklair 2000). Both groups may suffer ‘culture shock’ in a new country and working environment, and have to cope with a different language, culture, and entrenched mentality. All these issues can influence parent–teacher relationships.

Theoretical framework

Numerous analytical frameworks have been proposed to differentiate parental involvement behaviours (see, for example the work of, Epstein 2010; Grolnick and Slowiaczek 1994; Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler 1997). Two influential frameworks that conceptualised parental involvement are Epstein’s (2010) and Grolnick and Slowiaczek’s (1994) which underlined two main domains of involvement: school based and home based respectively. The first is linked to activities where parents interact with teachers and the school community; the latter refers to assistance with homework, study support, and talking with children about school. Both imply that parents assume a role in which their goals are aligned with those of the school and teachers (Levinthal and Kuusisto 2020). We decided to use Goodall and Montgomery’s (2014) theoretical framework because of its uniqueness in recognising the influence and power of both teachers and parents. Parents’ ‘expertise’ regarding their children is valued by teachers, and teachers’ perspectives are important to parents: there is an equitable distribution of agency concerning the children’s learning (Goodall and Montgomery 2014).

Their continuum model suggests moving away from a notion of involvement with school towards an engagement with children’s learning (Goodall and Montgomery 2014). Here, parental engagement refers to more than a parent’s participation or involvement in an activity; it refers to a feeling of commitment, and a sense of ownership. Importantly, this perspective does not compete with the notion of parental involvement but integrates and complements it. Accordingly, relationships between teachers and parents are open, and characterised by mutual learning: both have a genuine interest in the child’s academic and broader success. Moreover, as Li et al. (2023) recently found that more involvement is not necessarily associated with better student outcomes, we ascribe value to Goodall and Montgomery (2014) model, which references a notion of dialogue as a way to describe a meaningful two-way communication approach centred around the teacher–parent partnership.

Goodall and Montgomery (2014) also employ the concept of agency, defined as ‘the capacity of parents to act (in a beneficial manner) in relation to their child’s learning’ (Goodall and Montgomery 2014, 401). They use this definition to demonstrate how agency shifts between the protagonists – at first, it lies with the school, is then shared between the school and parents, before finally being transferred to the parents. This model represents a dynamic continuum with three main stages, between which parent–teacher dyads can progress during their interactions about the children’s learning. The first stage is parental involvement with the school – when the agency lies with the school. The school is in control, is responsible for a unidirectional flow of information from the school to the parents, and parental involvement is seen as something that should ‘help’ the school. The second stage is parental involvement with schooling. Here, agency is shared by parents and teachers, and the focus of their interactions concern supporting students’ learning and the processes which surround learning. In this stage, parents and the school both have control over flowing information about the child, and parents are more involved in their child’s learning than in the first stage. The third stage, parental engagement with children’s learning, marks the point in which parental agency is highest. While parents may receive information from the school, they alone decide on activities and involvement. At this stage, parents are involved in their children’s learning, not because the school has dictated that they must be, but because of their own perspectives on their role as parents. In Goodall (2018c), this final stage forms the basis of an extended theoretical framework characterised by a sustainable, fair, and fruitful partnership between parents and teachers.

Methodology

We used a qualitative approach, aiming to reveal the perspectives and subjective worldviews of parents and teachers in international schools. In our approach, a qualitative researcher is the primary research tool, utilising comprehension abilities, perceptiveness, openness, and insight, and applying these skills to events occurring during the research (Denzin and Lincoln 2011).

Our approach is based on a constructivist paradigm (Creswell and Poth 2016), applying a phenomenological approach to uncover the worldviews and perspectives of parents and teachers. More specifically, we sought to understand this relationship, as perceived by teachers and parents in Cypriot international schools (Van Manen 2016). Our research goal was not to reconstruct an ‘objective’ reality, but rather to try to reveal and document the perceptions of reality experienced by our research participants – teachers and parents – through their personal stories (Bauer 2000; Denzin and Lincoln 2011).

Participants were 17 teachers and 28 mothers from five international schools in Limassol, Cyprus. According to the Cyprus Census of Population and Housing 2021 (CYSTAT), Limassol district has 53,100 foreign nationals from a population of 258,900 (20.5 per cent). According to the official data of the Cypriot Ministry of Education (MECSY), there are eight non-governmental private (foreign) schools in Limassol that teach in English. Most deliver a UK curriculum, and so we focus on those schools.

The teachers who participated had all taught in an international school in Limassol for at least one year, spoke English as their native language, and were from an English speaking country such as the UK, Australia, South Africa, or the USA. Their ages ranged between 25 and 56, and they had three to 30 years of teaching experience. All teachers had a Bachelor’s degree, and some additionally held a Master’s. The mothers in our study had lived in Limassol for at least two years following the household acceptance of a job offer involving relocation, and had at least one child attending an international school. We sought to recruit as wide a range of parent nationalities as possible: mothers from the UK, Russia, Israel, Ukraine, Italy, Greece, South Africa, Germany, Lebanon, Jordan, and Slovenia participated.

All participants were interviewed in English, except for Israeli mothers, who were interviewed in Hebrew. The first author of the article (fluent in English and Hebrew) has been living in Cyprus with her family for five years, following her partner’s acceptance of a relocation job offer. Interviewees were recruited via her personal network, as well as through snowball sampling and by approaching potential interviewees via social media.

Data collection was carried out using semi-structured in-depth interviews, based on open-ended questions structured in a logical order to form a basis for in-depth conversations. Participants were asked a series of questions about their perceptions of parental involvement and the relationship between parents and teachers at school. Participants also provided demographic information (e.g. country of origin, marital status, native language, age, and education). All interviews were recorded (with consent). The project sought and gained prior approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee at Tel Aviv University.

Analysis was led by the first author who, after coding and sorting interview transcripts, identified recurring themes. Analysis occurred concurrently with data collection. To ensure participants’ privacy, names and all identifying details were changed, and all recorded materials were maintained and securely stored by the authors. Some interviews were conducted in public (in a café) and some online (using Zoom), according to interviewee preference.

Findings

Here, we summarise the themes that emerged from our interviews. Key issues included: parent–teacher relations as a ‘missed opportunity’ relationship; an inherent lack of symmetry in parent–teacher relationships; and cultural gaps contributing to difficulties in establishing meaningful relationships between parents and teachers.

Parent–teacher relationships as a ‘missed opportunity’ relationship – gaps between aspirations and reality

In the interviews, many mothers expressed a strong desire to be a part of the school, to have contact with teachers and to be ‘embraced’ into school life. For example, Teresa, a mother from Germany, spoke about her desire to be a part of the school, and shared that she felt isolated:

Teresa (a mother):

I would actually be happy to participate more if they would have include us more, because that’s how you feel more connected to your kid, to your school.. I think this is really important, not just to drop off and collect your kid but to be involved in everything, not only to see the grades. They are there for about 6-7 h, you need to feel connected, like in your job – if you don’t speak to your colleagues – you feel isolated, it’s the same.

Mothers frequently expressed ideas to increase parental involvement and foster a sense of community, or to aid getting to know other parents:

Limor (a mother):

I would have felt more welcome if we had meetings, even between the parents and the students, some sort of meeting, of project that parents and students can do together, even some sort of volunteering activity together, something so that the parents can meet each other because [right now] all you do is pick up your child, you exchange a word or two [with other parents] and that’s it. There’s no connection.

Mothers’ wishes to come into the school and be part of the learning process and on site activities reflect a clear desire for parental involvement and a stronger connection with the school.

Similarly, many teachers made suggestions for joint activities that could help create a closer relationship between teachers and parents, and strengthen connections between parents themselves. Most of the teachers viewed parents through an understanding and empathetic lens, mindful of their unique (expatriate) situation in which they lacked close social relationships, prior social networks, or local family members.

Maria (a teacher):

I think it was nice to have that kind of organisation through the parents. I think that something like that could be nice to bring families closer together across the board, maybe to integrate and mix a little bit more, give them opportunities to talk and understand rather than just at parents meeting or talking about school curriculum as such, I think something less formal.

Sam (a teacher):

Maybe it would be nice to have family activities in the school like to have dads versus moms hockey game or football game, to bring some more families because there are families that arrived here and know no one, and for them to actually come to the school, and actually to get a little network would be quite nice too. It might help people settle better, make those relationships for adults, as well as children.

These types of social events help create a sort of ‘glue’ between school and home, and between parents and school-based activities (Barbour et al. 2018; Goodall 2018a; Sylva, Jelley, and Goodall 2018). They are especially important for creating a sense of belonging to a school community (Spear et al. 2022). In Goodall (2018b), 30 school principals from the UK participated in a programme, receiving a ‘Toolkit for Parental Engagement’, to help them work with parents. After participating in the programme, most principals came up with ideas for family learning activities such as shared reading and shared lunches, as well as ideas for improving how schools provide guidance to parents (Goodall 2018b). These findings make clear that when school staff understands the importance of parental involvement and the benefits that come from it, they exhibit a willingness to communicate and establish parental relationships that encourage learning (Goodall 2018b).

Our findings reveal that both parents and teachers clearly recognised the importance of social relations, and the benefits of a supportive community. Most mothers expressed interest in having more meetings and teacher contact, not just so they could receive more information about their child – so they could feel a greater sense of belonging. This finding is consistent with previous studies that have suggested that social capital is particularly beneficial for parents, as social connections with other parents can provide them with instrumental support and emotional support. Through those social connections, parents share information among themselves about the school, the curriculum, or how children are treated, as well as information about children’s friendships, which also benefits the children (Cochran and Niego 2002; Hagage Baikovich and Yemini 2022; Horvat, Weininger and Lareau 2003).

Our interviews made clear that many teachers were aware of strategies to increase parental involvement, yet few put these ideas into practice. We learned that despite both sides’ desire for active involvement and for parents to have agency, the relationship remained stuck at the first stage described by Goodall and Montgomery (2014) – parental involvement with the school. In this stage, information is delivered to parents and there is no room for a dialogue in which information is exchanged between the two sides (Goodall and Montgomery 2014), something that the mothers would have liked. Since the school does not know how to produce the agency, although parents participate in school activities, events remain initiated and controlled solely by the school and mostly occur on the school site.

Asymmetry in parent–teacher relationships

Another theme that emerged from the interviews concerned a lack of symmetry in the relationship between parents and teachers. For example, Loretta shared that her school did not hold parent meetings; she believed this was deliberate. She speculated that the school was worried that if parents were to unite, it would lead to an increase in their power, which in turn would lead to demands. In other words, Loretta felt the school was in a position of superiority over the parents and that it wanted to maintain that.

Loretta:

(a mother): I felt like this school is missing this part (of meetings with parents) with the excuse of Covid. At the beginning it was acceptable, but later on I think they should have organised something ..we are not all the same and some parents are shy or maybe not communicative or maybe just cannot come during pick up time, skipping the only window which they can have a hope of starting their relationship with the others. I think it’s fair to try to make it from the school. It’s not something that can be just left to the parents … but if I think about it, the other side of the coin is if you do too many relationships between the parents – they go together, they can be very good to push you, to gain power, so maybe it’s intended, a strategy.

Another example of this lack of symmetry was expressed by many mothers who shared that when they tried to suggest a new initiative at the school, they were ignored. In the interviews, many mothers expressed frustration that they did not have access to teachers: the power asymmetry was clear.

Mina (a mother):

I suggested opening a second hand uniform shop, so if someone needs it, to be stored somewhere, to keep and to see what we have, so we need not buy everything new, they didn’t respond to this.

Jenif (a mother):

I’ve tried to get mindfulness in the school and I was shut down very quickly by some saying that they didn’t want any external people coming in to do any external activities because they wanted to keep under in the teacher’s control, and they said ‘no’. So, I have tried to break into that side of things and again you feel like that’s such a shame.

These examples demonstrate how mothers who proposed initiatives, not specifically or solely related to their child(ren), were met with rejection or disdain, leading them to abandon their plans. A majority of mothers in our study were educated, of a middle-upper class socioeconomic status, and proficient in English. Nevertheless, they felt undermined by the school’s reaction, and often ‘gave up’. Our findings are consistent with those described in the literature: parents tend to be involved in their children’s education when the school welcomes their participation, provides multiple entry points for involvement, values their perspective, and creates connections in culturally appropriate ways. Although these findings are primarily true for minority or low socioeconomic status parents (Delgado-Gaitan 2004; Mapp 2004; Tillman 2004), we argue it remains relevant in a middle-upper class context. These examples also correspond to the first stage described by Goodall and Montgomery (2014), in which agency lies with the school, the school is in a superior position, controlling the information shared with parents and what activities take place.

Another finding that emerged from our interviews is that teachers recognised the importance of parental involvement, yet were frustrated with parents’ ‘demanding’ attitude while conceding that parents were simply trying to exert their influence. Many teachers resented circumstances in which parents held power and influence, sharing that even as the ‘professionals’ with extensive experience and training, parents often pushed issues, merely because they pay high tuition fees.

Dona (a teacher):

Coming from the UK, I worked in very deprived areas where parents were not involved at all in their children's schooling, so it's nice to have the support of parents and to have parents who care and who want their children to exceed all expectations. So when we have supportive parents, it really does help the children and we can work together as a team. But there are sometimes parents who want to be too involved and sometimes that actually hinders us doing our actual job.

Another teacher shared the costs of parents’ excessive demands, which were seen as being grounded in a sense of entitlement engendered by paying high tuition fees:

Luci (a teacher):

I mean, in general, parental involvement is good, and has positive effect on the children, but there are cases that the parents kind of demand too much of our attention; whilst they are fee paying and they are our clients, they kind of forget that we've got 24 clients in our classroom.

These descriptions are consistent with previous work (Breidenstein, Krüger, and Roch 2020) in which teachers are perceived as ‘service providers’ and parents as ‘clients’ who treat the teachers in a demanding manner; unsurprisingly, relationships between parents and teachers were often described as tense. Addi-Raccah and Grinshtain ( 2022) found that teachers reported higher levels of conflict in their relationship with parents, compared to the parents’ view on the relationship. These findings are also consistent with Goodall’s (2018c) description of the prevailing situation in schools today, whereby teachers are viewed as ‘professionals’ who possess the knowledge and authority. However, Goodall seeks to change this perspective, and instead to adopt an approach that views parents as figures who possess a lot of knowledge and understanding that can be relevant to their children’s learning (Goodall and Montgomery 2014).

Another teacher (Tori) noted that she thinks this is a widespread trend, not unique to international schools, but amplified there since many parents strongly feel the high fees paid give them a right to intervene.

Tori:

My personal opinion is that the way society has gone now is that sometimes parents can have too much power. And in international schools, that’s probably the case because they pay a lot of money for their children's education. So therefore, they would be quick to exercise their rights. I believe completely in parental involvement, but they haven't trained for three or four years to teach children. I went to university and came out with a first class degree in primary education. I know what I'm talking about. I trained to do that, but I do think even in the UK, I think the shift has gone from the teacher knows and the teachers are trained, to parents have all the power or majority of the power now.

These findings echo recent studies that have revealed that parents are increasingly inclined towards intensive parenting strategies, regardless of class background (Cha and Park 2021; Ishizuka 2019; Vincent 2017). The trend can be seen globally, with both middle – and working-class families raising their children intensively (Lee 2021).

Cultural differences contributing to difficulty in establishing a meaningful relationship

Here, we present examples to illustrate cultural gaps between parents and teachers. We found that parents often feel excluded, and that teachers can be ambivalent. For example, teachers noted that they want parents to be involved, and often expressed understanding, acknowledging parents’ poor understanding of the curriculum, their language difficulties, and having received a different education themselves. Yet teachers also stated that demanding parents exerted too much pressure and showed little appreciation or trust.

Many mothers described teachers as unapproachable and felt hesitant and worried about how teachers would react if they reach out to them. Mothers also noted that they lacked a full understanding of the culturally acceptable boundaries of their interactions with the teachers. These concerns were described around initiatives seeking involvement or requests to coordinate.

Hamutal (a mother):

Approaching the teachers is difficult for me because I feel that I constantly have to apologise. It’s like I approach him [the teacher] and then immediately apologise that I am taking up his time … It always has to come from me and [he says] send me an email first, and let’s schedule a meeting, like making it more complicated. Not like it is in Israel, that’s for sure. Here you don’t have access to the teacher. It’s not like if my child comes home with some unpleasant feeling from school, I can now pick up the phone and call the teacher or send a text and solve it right away. Nope. It’s like something that you need to carry along with you another day or two until you can meet. They don’t give you a chance to vent.

This example demonstrates the great significance of cultural capital mediating the relationship between parents and teachers in international schools. Studies have widely shown that middle-class parents possess increased cultural capital compared to working-class parents, which makes them ‘feel comfortable’ with school staff, and enables them to have substantial involvement in their children’s lives (Weininger and Lareau 2003). They possess the knowledge and ‘proper’ language needed to conduct themselves competently at school when promoting their children’s interests (Horvat, Weininger and Lareau 2003). In contrast, our findings illustrate the interactions of middle-class parents when they lack the ‘proper’ cultural capital.

Matilda (a teacher):

I'd say that you have to know some cultural aspects and be more aware of the diversity. And sometimes the parents might not be able to speak English so they might have someone to help them. That’s something difficult because you can't speak directly to the parent and maybe they don't feel comfortable in getting involved, because it's the school's philosophy or policy or whatever. Also maybe because some parents have not gone through the same system – they might feel not sure about how it works so it's less likely that they would get involved. They should be able to ask, if they don't know something. I think that's important to keep communication between the school and the parents open.

In Goodall and Montgomery (2014) model, parental agency increases over time, as school agency decreases in parallel – at the first stage in the continuum, it may be perceived that the responsibility for children’s learning lies with the school, or largely with the school. Further, along the continuum, the relationship balance between the school and parents shifts. Since many teachers said that many parents are not fully able to express themselves in English, we may assume that teachers felt parents are not capable enough to be responsible for their children’s learning in English.

Emily (a teacher):

To support foreign families, I think school should let parents in, to come into the class and see how the kids work. Watch the teachers, how they are with the kids, and actually observe their children, to see exactly how they interact with each other. Maybe even having a day with the parents in the class being taught like they were students, showing them the curriculum so they would have a deeper understanding of how it works. Definitely putting some more trust into the teachers. Also, I found that to be honest many parents didn't have so much respect for the teachers. They even have a view on English ways of teaching.

These examples illustrate how sometimes cultural differences are perceived as extreme by both sides, clearly souring the relationship between them. For instance, trust is crucial in the parent–teacher relationship; previous research has shown that parents who felt that a teacher was invested in their child were more involved in their children’s education compared to parents with less trust in the teacher (Vera et al. 2017). Trust is a component of Goodall’s (2018b) holistic worldview, described as an important facet of authentic dialogue between parents and teachers in a relationship based on trust, fairness, and compromise (Goodall 2018b).

Another point that mothers raised regarded multiculturalism at school. They believed that multiculturalism should be leveraged, such that the cultural richness of the school could be harnessed to create closeness among the students and parents. Instead, most mothers felt that, even in cases in which multiculturalism was addressed, it was done only superficially, to little benefit.

Vered (a mother):

It’s clear that they pay attention (to foreign students), it’s obviously a daily challenge that they are dealing with. How much do they really understand the extent of it – I’m not sure … they always refer to the language – you know English/you don’t know English – but it’s much more than language. I think that there’s not enough consideration given to the cultural gap. I don’t think they have enough understanding of cultural differences, there is no real understanding of who the people you’re standing in front of really are.

Tamara (a mother):

I don’t think that they take it as advantage (the cultural issue) … They have different religions, different cultures, but they don’t use this. Before they (different school) used to have an open day and each group of kids … and the celebrations was like in sections – each section spoke about different cultures and about different countries, but here I don’t feel that they do this … They ignore it, that’s how I feel.

Christa (a teacher):

I think that in order to support foreign families the school could use not specifically a translator, but someone who is not really involved in school, someone who speaks the language out of the school. I think it would make it a lot easier to have this person in the middle to connect them to us.

Jessica (a teacher):

There are so many examples, but simple things like English phrases that you might say and they don’t understand at all. Where I'm from it's a really small town near Brighton, and it is very white British, so I've not really taught many children of different nationalities, so I had to try and learn different things that different cultures have. And so that was another challenge to try and learn these different cultures and their celebrations.

Our interviews made clear that the topic of multiculturalism at school was not trivial. Mothers felt it was not addressed thoroughly or sufficiently. Teachers described that the cultural differences between them and the parents – for example, in regard to English proficiency, familiarity with the curriculum, respect for teachers, or attitudes towards the UK educational system – led to challenging situations. It is evident that the teachers themselves were not quite sure of how to act in situations in which cultural gaps between themselves and parents were prominent. These findings are in line with Williams-Gualandi (2015), who found that teachers receive insufficient training and are unsure how to approach cultural diversity issues in the classroom. The teachers in the Williams-Gualandi study (2015) reported being worried they would express themselves incorrectly; for example, that they would not say things clearly, or would be too simplistic when speaking about cultural issues, or would inadvertently ‘fall into’ using stereotypes.

These findings are also consistent with the review by Norheim and Moser (2020) which examined 25 studies on partnerships between immigrant parents and education professionals. The authors noted a number of barriers to a good partnership between teachers and immigrant parents, like differences in language, power relationships, or culture. Norheim and Moser suggested various approaches to strengthen partnerships between teachers and parents: hiring bilingual staff, having translators present during parent–teacher conferences, providing translations of school information, and demonstrating patience and respect during interactions. Some of these strategies have been suggested and mentioned by the teachers in our study as well.

Discussion

This study sought to examine the relationship between parents and teachers in international schools in Cyprus by focusing on parental involvement. Our findings revealed that relationships between parents and teachers in international schools are complex. Both sides recognised the value of parental involvement but often did not know how to put it into practice. Teachers often felt threatened and attacked, yet were successful in being empathetic to parents’ unique circumstances, like their lack of knowledge of local education systems, or their missing support systems.

We used Goodall and Montgomery’s (2014) holistic theoretical framework to examine the relationship between parents and teachers in international schools (Levinthal and Kuusisto 2020). Here, parental engagement in its most ‘advanced’ stage is seen as a mutual and open relationship in which both sides have a genuine interest in all aspects of the student’s life. However, in our study, parent–teacher relationships inhabited only the first stage in Goodall and Montgomery’s continuum model, despite desire from parents and teachers to improve relationships. Agency belongs only to the school, which is the superior partner in the relationship.

The mothers in our study wanted closeness and a deeper relationship, and many teachers adopted an understanding and empathetic attitude towards parents, even identifying ways to strengthen relationships. Yet the cultural gap between the two sides hindered a meaningful rapprochement. According to Goodall and Montgomery (2014), schools must want to cede agency to parents, so relationships can achieve mutuality. Whereas both sides understood a need for, and the benefits of, mutual agency, they did not succeed, and relationships remained superficial; this dynamic represents the first stage of Goodall and Montgomery’s model – parental involvement with school.

Studies that have examined parental involvement have shown that, from the parents’ point of view, the school is responsible for creating opportunities for involvement (Baker et al. 2016; Sormunen, Tossavainen, and Turunen 2011). Other studies have found that insufficient and unclear communication with parents (Baker et al. 2016), as well as parents’ own stress (Vera et al. 2017), can be barriers to parental involvement. Teachers and administrators play a crucial role in fostering parental motivation to be involved in their children’s education; particularly powerful motivators include improved teacher–parent communication, specific teaching strategies and practices, and making parents feel welcome (Lewis, Kim, and Bey 2011; Murray, McFarland-Piazza, and Harrison 2015; Rodriguez, Blatz, and Elbaum 2014; Yulianti et al. 2022). Yet our study found that despite the empathy teachers felt towards parents, and many similarities between the opposing groups, it appeared teachers preferred not to implement or advance the ideas both sides mentioned in our interviews, preferring a more superficial parent–teacher interaction. We infer this is due to tension in the schools and their relationship with parents. Teachers often perceive parents as overly demanding, and feel angry that parents see them as ‘service providers’ who ‘need’ to serve their ‘clients’. Some teachers may also be hesitant of activities encouraging relationships between parents, fearing that it will lead to parental co-operation in increasing demands on them. Our study underlines the importance of communication, dialogue, and expectation management between parents and teachers. Dialogue is a core facet of Goodall and Montgomery’s (2014) model, which regards the relationship between parents and teachers as a partnership with a shared goal.

Although in this study we chose not to use a sociological point of view as a focus for our analysis of our findings, we could not ignore clear emerging themes. Our findings illustrate how cultural differences between parents and teachers (e.g. cultural capital) affect teacher–parent relationships, leading to frustrations on both sides. They add to the body of research on relationships between parents and teachers, showing that although recent studies indicate parental involvement is most common among affluent parents (Calarco 2020; Lewis-McCoy 2020; Murray et al. 2019; Posey-Maddox 2013), when middle-class parents lack the ‘proper’ cultural capital, misunderstandings quickly arise.

We found a merely superficial acknowledgement of multiculturalism in schools, perhaps because teachers do not have the relevant training to address multiculturalism. Teachers in international schools receive minimal training in how to teach in a culturally diverse environment (Bunnell 2016), and are typically trained in national teaching institutions with zero focus on how to become an effective international school teacher. In Elerian (2020), a Cypriot international school principal admitted avoiding discussing potentially controversial topics specifically because of the school’s multinational student body and decided on the level of discourse around global issues based on an assessment of the school’s diversity in its student body. Principals typically thought that in order to maintain school harmony, political and cultural neutrality was required.

Our study is limited by a relatively small sample size, yet provides insights into both parents’ and teachers’ views on how these mutual relationships are shaped by parental involvement in the international school context. As our study focused only on parents and teachers, it is clear that further work should examine other issues which influence relationships between parents and teachers: the role of principals and their influence on how multiculturalism is addressed in schools; the type of training teachers receive; and ‘tone setting’ around parental involvement. Research should also focus on students in international schools, to shed light on how they perceive themselves within the relationships between parents and teachers, as a part of a wider network of relationships.

This study extends the literature on parent–teacher relationships by examining the role of culture. In a global era in which many families decide – or are forced – to leave their country of origin and move to another country, our lens is crucial, providing an excellent opportunity to observe the influence of cultural differences on the relationship between teachers and parents. It is vital to recognise the significance and impact of cultural differences, and to create appropriate training programmes which seek to improve relationships between teachers and parents, not only in international schools but in all culturally diverse educational contexts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).