Teachers’ professionalism and relations with parents: teachers’ and parents’ views

Following the intensification and ambivalence of parent-teacher relations, this study examined the collaborative or conflictual relations, and teachers’ professionalism as perceived by both teachers and parents: 325 teachers and 655 parents from 21 Israeli Jewish primary schools answered a questionnaire. Using a structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis, similarities were found in teachers and parents’ perceptions of teachers’ work efficiency in increasing collaborative relations and decreasing conflicts. Teachers’ responsibilities and influence in schools reduce conflicts to varying extents for parents and teachers. The findings highlight the importance of developing professional competencies for building parent-teacher relations in schools. Emphasising the preparation of teachers for establishing their relations with parents is mainly important during in-service and pre-service teachers’ training, as it can contribute to increasing teachers’ professional confidence in their efforts to build collaborative rather than conflictual relations with teachers and schools.