Parent–teacher conferences as opportunities for educational partnership: A conversational analysis across three historical models of partnership

Research objectives (aims) and problem(s): This study focuses on the concept of educational partnership, understood as the relationship between teachers and parents as reflected in their conference interactions. Three components of such partnership were examined: trust, a sense of collegiality, and a sense of the common good (Mendel, 2002, p. 53). The aim of the study was to diagnose the educational partnership as manifested in conversations recorded during parent–teacher conferences. The research questions were: In what situations, and in what ways, does trust manifest during parent–teacher conferences? In what situations, and in what ways, does a sense of collegiality manifest during parent–teacher conferences? In what situations, and in what ways, does the common good manifest during parent–teacher conferences? Research methods: The study was conducted using conversational analysis, which seeks to describe methods of producing orderly social interactions. This approach emerged from Garfinkel’s ethnomethodological program and his analysis of “human” (ethno) methods (Silverman, 2009, p. 190). Conversational analysis is a well-developed, internally coherent method (…) particularly suited to examining professional practices as action processes (Granosik, 2013, p. 10). To examine the parent–school partnership from this perspective, conversational analysis was applied to 22 parent–teacher conferences in grades 1–3 held in public schools. A conference is a pedagogical practice that maintains existing order and tradition (Czerepaniak-Walczak, 2018, p. 55). Process of argumentation: The article consists of a theoretical section and a research section. The theoretical section presents three historically shaped models of parent–school relationships: participatory relationships (in the Second Polish Republic), asymmetric cooperation (during the communist period), and simulated democracy (in the Third Polish Republic). The research section presents the method and findings, showing contemporary images of partnership: how mutual trust, community, and the sense of the common good are expressed in the context of conversational analysis. Research findings and their impact on the development of educational sciences: Trust manifests primarily in conversations about children. It appears as an attitude directed toward parents (in the expectation that they will exercise parental control). Both parents and teachers tend to distrust children. Collegiality manifests in formal and organizational matters; for example, when parents elect the class parent board to discuss organizational issues. A sense of the common good appears in teachers’ references to benefits for the entire class and to class events organized jointly. Conclusions and/or recommendations: The contemporary relationship model identified on the basis of conversational analysis of parent –teacher meetings is one that is dominated by the teacher, focused on meeting the school’s needs, oriented toward cooperation for the benefit of the school rather than the child, based on class achievements rather than individual ones, simulates democracy within schools, generates distrust toward pupils, and leaves parents largely on their own.