“You’re Not Going to Call the Shots”

Abstract

Researchers and policy makers overwhelmingly stress the harmonious nature of parent involvement. Researchers have focused on individual forms of parent involvement, yet collective efforts of parents in parent-teacher organizations (PTOs) are a key dynamic in schools. Drawing on a case study of an elementary school in an upper-middle-class community, we show that very high levels of parent involvement led to many conflicts. There were three main sources of these routine conflicts. Parents and educators had different priorities—parents favored a warm, friendly, and nonbureaucratic environment while the principal favored an orderly, safe, and bureaucratic environment. There were battles over authority, particularly over the planning of events. And finally, the PTO was a volunteer organization with high levels of turnover, weak lines of communication, and minimal training. This case study suggests the need to reconceptualize our models of family involvement in schooling.