'They Only See Their Own Child': An Interview Study of Preschool Teachers' Perceptions about Parents

The purpose of the study is to investigate how kindergarten teachers experience contact with the children’s parents. The research question is: What are the perceptions and experiences of kindergarten teachers regarding the relationship with the children’s parents and the parents’ participation?

The informants describe how they seek to promote collaboration and prevent conflicts by emphasising that input from parents is welcome. They also try to accommodate the parents’ requests. However, the employees also say that some parents express their own views on how the kindergarten employees should do their job. Comments and demands often come from parents with high socioeconomic status, and the employees perceive this as the parents wanting to decide how kindergarten work should be planned and carried out. A contrasting challenge is when parents with non-Swedish backgrounds have language problems that can inhibit collaboration. 

The empirical material consists of semi-structured interviews with 30 kindergarten teachers (11 men and 19 women) in Swedish kindergartens. The interviews were recorded and transcribed before they were thematically analysed.

Hedlin, M. (2019). "'They Only See Their Own Child': An Interview Study of Preschool Teachers' Perceptions about Parents". Early Child Development and Care, 189(11):1776-1785.