Conditions and Characteristics of Partnership between Teachers and Parents: From Legislation to Challenges of Common Practice in Slovenia

Abstract

The basic legislative frameworks determining the cooperation between school and parents at the elementary school level in Slovenia are presented in this chapter. Parents have a special role in the school council and the parents’ council where they are involved in (co)decision-making in the organization and the content of the elementary school programme. The organization of parents’ meetings and individual consultation hours which enable a direct formal form of the cooperation between school and parents is of outmost importance besides the legislative provisions which manage the informing of parents about school achievements and the behaviour of children, the inclusion of parents in the formation of school education plan and school regulations. The partnership model of cooperation between teachers’ and parents’ is perceived as the most productive model for developing constructive involvement of parents. Teachers should have appropriate attitudes towards cooperation with parents and possess suitably developed interpersonal communicative, cooperative and organizational skills, all of which are prerequisite to establishing and maintaining quality cooperation between teachers and parents. The results of the empirical research on the cooperation between schools and parents, based on representative sampling of both teachers and parents, showed the basic advantages and obstacles related to this cooperation, along with challenges facing more high-quality cooperation in the future.

Citation

Kalin, J. (2015), "Conditions and Characteristics of Partnership between Teachers and Parents: From Legislation to Challenges of Common Practice in Slovenia", International Teacher Education: Promising Pedagogies (Part B) (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 22B), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 209-232. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720150000025016