“It’s Not Just Helping Your Kid with Homework Anymore”: The Challenges of Aligning Education Policy with Parents and Teachers

Abstract

Education policy is intended to be adopted by stakeholders, yet high-level policies may not reflect reality at home or school. This article draws on interviews with 127 teachers and parents of children in Grades 1–3 to examine the degree to which they align with Ontario’s Ministry of Education parent engagement policy. We demonstrate how perceptions of parent engagement differ by role (teacher and parent), priorities (universalistic vs. particularistic), and parents’ social class background (working and middle class). We consider the challenges of promoting policies targeted at supporting good parenting practices.