The purpose of this study is to explore Swedish secondary school teachers' experiences ofparental involvement in their children's education, with a particular focus on how thisintersects with teachers' professionalism. While positive relationships between teachers andparents have historically been seen as essential for students' educational outcomes, recentresearch has highlighted the potential challenges that excessive parental involvement canpose for teachers' professional responsibilities (Dahl, 2017). In Sweden, such parentalinteractions are increasingly seen as problematic, with reports from teachers' unionsindicating that parents make unreasonable demands, such as influencing grading decisionsor showing excessive concern for their own child's progress (Lärarförbundet, 2020).Teachers report that these problems have increased over time (Hedlin & Frank, 2022).This study applies the theoretical framework of teacher professionalism, conceptualized as abalance between two logics: professional responsibility and professional accountability(Englund & Solbrekke, 2015). Professional responsibility is based on trust and a commitmentto act in the interests of concrete others, i.e. citizens, while professional accountabilityimplies that teachers must report and explain their actions to external actors such asparents, school management and society. The study uses these logics to explore howteachers navigate and manage the different approaches to parental involvement Empiricaldata were collected through 17 semi-structured interviews with secondary school teachers.During these interviews, participants engaged with vignettes depicting hypothetical scenariosof teacher-parent interactions, allowing for reflective discussion of their strategies andperceptions. The findings contribute to an understanding of how teachers balancemaintaining their professional autonomy while responding to parental expectations, and offerinsights into the evolving nature of teacher professionalism in an educational context.

References

Dahl, K. (2017). Too much parental cooperation? Parent–teacher cooperation and how itinfluences professional responsibility among Danish schoolteachers. Power and Education, 9(3), 177-191.

Englund, & Solbrekke (2015). Om innebörder i lärarprofessionalism. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 20(3-4), 168-194.

Hedlin, M., & Frank, E. (2022). “They Want a Reply Immediately!” Teachers’ PerceptionsAbout Contact Between Home and School. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators,11(2), 271-288.

Lärarförbundet (2020). Varannan lärare utsätts för orimliga föräldrakrav.