Parent-teacher conferences in Dutch culturally diverse schools: Participation and conflict in institutional context

Abstract

In The Netherlands, the transition from primary to secondary education is prepared by formal talks between teachers and parents. The purpose of these conferences is to discuss the child's score on the national CITO test and the teacher's recommendation for the child's track in secondary school. We recorded, transcribed and analyzed 33 conferences at two multi-ethnic primary schools. Participation with migrant parents was often hampered by their insufficient skills in the Dutch language. In 14 conferences, disagreements occurred about the recommended level for the child or the teacher's characterization of the child. Dutch parents and migrant parents with a high level of education succeeded in solving the disagreement by making compromises with the teacher. Other migrant parents had to accept the teacher's conditions or acquiesce in the teacher's point of view. The conflicts unveiled differences in educational ideas and in views about the responsibilities of the school and the parents. It is proposed that the differences between teacher and parent cannot be explained solely by referring to pre-given cultural positions and practices. We interpret the conferences as an institutional context in which participants strategically shape their contributions, in some conferences to avoid conflict, in others to emphasize differences. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.