How Teacher Leaders Think About Parents: A Mixed Methods Approach

Abstract

The present study firstly explores teacher mental images and understandings of the concepts of ‘parent’ through metaphor analysis and secondly examines how teacher leaders differ in terms of perceptions about parents. The primary objective of this study is to uncover teacher leaders' implicit attitudes about ‘parents’ in order to contribute to parental involvement initiatives undertaken by teacher. The study adopts a mixed-design methodology. Teacher leaders were identified through Teacher Leadership Behavior Scale and the metaphors were evaluated using a content analysis method. The research was conducted with 89 teachers. The study presents several significant findings. Metaphor analysis revealed teachers perceive parents in different seven distinction roles, which imply positive, neutral and negative attitude: partner / nurturer (positive), supporter (positive), observer (neutral), student (neutral), mirror (neutral), inspector (negative), Machiavellist (negative) and antagonist (negative). These roles indicate three types of parental involvement, ranging from ‘active participation’ (positive) to ‘passive participation’ (neutral), and to ‘adversarial participation’ (negative). Statistical analysis revealed that teacher leaders, high scorers as identified by teacher leadership behavior scale, have a more positive attitude towards parents than low scorers. Overall, these findings can be utilized by teacher leaders, educational leaders and researchers working in similar domains, providing valuable insights into teachers’ view of parents and contributing to the enhancement of parental involvement practices.