Teachers’ self-evaluation of competence for cooperation with parents

Višnjić Jevtić, Adrijana. (2018). Teachers’ self-evaluation of competence for cooperation with parents. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Pedagogy.
(Poslijediplomski doktorski studij pedagogije) [mentor Maleš, Dubravka].

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Abstract

Starting from the changing paradigms of children and childhood, multiple discussions on the position of the child in contemporary society were instigated with an emphasis on understanding and respecting children’s perspective, developmental neuroscience, and the perception of the child as an active participant in one’s own learning. In addition to scientific research, repositioning of the child was also caused by reflection on children’s rights, especially after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although childhood was previously in the focus of the scientific public, the said changes led to a re-examination of the child’s wellbeing and the importance of learning environment for early childhood children. Responsibility for providing a stimulating environment for the development and learning of early and preschool children belongs to adults, i.e. to the community in which children re growing up. Responsibility is exceptionally large because it presents an intervening in the context of growing up and a kind of development guidance. During childhood, children belong to different communities which affect their learning and development, but it is undeniable that the most important role belongs to their family, followed by institutions of early and preschool education as the child’s first educational communities. Institutions of early and preschool education should be considered as a complement to familial upbringing. Such view on early and preschool education presupposes acknowledgement of family diversity, respect toward family culture, and understanding of different educational values, as well as mutual cooperation between families and educational institutions. Although it is indisputable that a partnership between parents and kindergarten teachers, i.e. between families and educational institutions, is the most preferred form of cooperative relationships, reality shows that it is still unavailable to a certain number of institutions. Therefore, this dissertation will use cooperation as a term denoting the relationship between parents and kindergarten teachers. Parent-teacher cooperation is defined as a two-way process, permeated with mutual respect and common goals of parents and teachers in relation to the child. By assuming that the cooperation between parents and kindergarten teaches is most common within early childhood and preschool education, that is if it takes place outside the institution itself then it is most often organized by professionals, professionals – the teachers – should take over the responsibility for this professional relationship. The success of the educational activity depends on the teacher’s professional competencies. The professional competencies of the kindergarten teachers can be defined as a combination of professional competencies and personal qualities of a teacher. Professional competencies are often identified with the qualifications acquired after the initial education. By reviewing scientific theories, it is confirmed that the initial education represents only a sort of entrance ticket to the profession. The competency which becomes important, even fundamental, after that time is openness to learning. By entering the practice, kindergarten teachers gain new insights into the child, family, and interaction among all participants of the educational process in the kindergarten. Contemporary science on early education emphasizes the importance of individuality of all subjects in upbringing and education, thus confirming the need for constant re-examination of theories and practices in the work of the kindergarten teachers. In accordance with the requirements of the teachers’ professional activity in relation to parents, it is necessary to determine the teachers’ competency for cooperation with parents. While reviewing available literature, it becomes apparent that the cooperation with parents was not sufficiently researched, therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to determine this type of competency based on available sources. The concept of teachers’ competency for cooperation with parents is thus defined as the kind of competency which enables the establishment and retention of satisfactory, professional, and cooperative relationships with parents of all children involved in an educational institution in order to increase the educational benefits of early and preschool children. The teachers’ competency for cooperation with parents is a construct of knowledge (on strategies and techniques for a more effective parental involvement, various family dynamics and functions, working with parents, constraints which hinder cooperation, support systems which the society provides to families), skills (communication, active listening, organization, and cooperation), and attitudes (toward parents and cooperation with parents). Starting from the theories on the importance of cooperation between teachers and parents, the assumption that this is a professional relationship the responsibility for which lies at the hands of teachers and which presupposes a certain competency, the research problem was determined related to the research of self-evaluation of the competency for cooperation with parents. The aim of the research was to determine the teachers’ self-evaluation of the competency for cooperation with parents and its connection with the education for cooperation with parents as well as professional experience. With regard to this aim, the following null hypothesis was set: Hg: There is no statistically significant correlation between the teachers’ self-evaluation of their competency for cooperation with parents and their education for cooperation, age and professional experience. Based on the main hypothesis, six sub-hypotheses were produced: H1: There is no statistically significant difference between the teachers’ self-evaluation of their competency for cooperation with parents and the level of their formal education. H2: There is no statistically significant difference between the teachers’ self-evaluation of their competency for cooperation with parents and the teachers’ education in subject with content related to parent-teacher cooperation. H3: There is no statistically significant difference between the teachers’ self-evaluation of their competency for cooperation with parents and their professional development connected with topics in parent-teacher cooperation. H4: There is no statistically significant difference between the teachers’ self-evaluation of their competency for cooperation with parents and their professional advancement. H5: There is no statistically significant difference between the teachers’ self-evaluation of their competency for cooperation with parents and their region of working. H6: There is no statistically significant difference between the teachers’ self-evaluation of their competency for cooperation with parents and their age. H7: There is no statistically significant difference between the teachers’ self-evaluation of their competency for cooperation with parents and their professional experience. Since education presents a lifelong process involving formal, non-formal, and informal education, within the hypothesis H1 (There is no positive correlation between the teachers’ selfevaluation of the competency for cooperation with parents and their education for cooperation with parents) a correlation has been researched between the teachers’ self-evaluation of competency for cooperation with parents in relation to teachers’ formal education (the highest degree of completed formal education, courses including contents related to cooperation with parents), non-formal education (professional development in the field of cooperation with parents, vocational advancement), and informal education. The problem and the purpose of the research were approached by means of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Given that no instrument which would fit the requirements of this research was found, a new instrument was devised on the basis of determined key factors of teachers’ competency for cooperation with parents (attitudes toward cooperation with parents and toward parents; organizational, cooperative, and communication skills, active listening skills, knowledge of working with parents, knowledge of constraints to working with parents, knowledge of families, knowledge of ways to involve a parent and knowledge on parenting support). In order to determine the metric characteristics of the instrument, a preliminary research was conducted on the sample consisting of 22 % of the respondents in relation to the supposed sample of the main research. Taking into account the obtained metric characteristics of the instrument, which corresponded to the purpose and tasks of the research, it was possible to conduct the main research. The research was conducted from March to April 2017 with the help of printed questionnaires. The survey included 600 kindergarten teachers between the ages of 22 and 64 (M = 42.18, SD = 10.67). Teachers who participated in the research have from 1 to 42 years of professional experience (M = 17.25, SD = 11.58). Research participants evaluated their own competency for cooperation with parents with the help of questionnaires. Qualitative research procedures were conducted in April 2017. They included an interview with a total of eight research participants. With the help of a semi-structured interview, participants provided their views on cooperation with parents, modalities of cooperation with parents, competencies for cooperation with parents, and ways of acquiring the competency for cooperation with parents. The results of the quantitative part of the research have shown that the research participants’ self-evaluation implies their competence in the field of cooperation with parents. The results of the quantitative part of the research did not point to the differences in the individual components of the competency since the respondents evaluated themselves as very successful in relation to all variables. The results of the qualitative part of the survey have shown that respondents consider communication skills to be crucial for cooperation with parents, and that is precisely why those skills are considered significant within the educational competency for cooperation with parents. By analysing the correlation between professional experience and the respondents’ selfevaluation of the competency for cooperation, statistically significant correlation appeared only in one variable, following a mild statistical link. This leads to the conclusion that there is no correlation between the teachers’ self-evaluation of the competency for cooperation with parents and their professional experience. The research results show that there is a correlation between the teachers’ selfevaluation of the competency for cooperation with parents and the teachers’ level of education, attending of courses and contents related to the field of cooperation with parents during their formal education, frequency of teachers’ professional development, and professional advancement of teachers. The scientific contribution of this research is visible on several levels. The theoretical definition of components of the teachers’ competency for cooperation with parents has not yet been presented in the way as it is presented in this paper, thus it presents the first level of scientific contribution. Also, no instruments were found for measuring the teachers’ selfevaluation of the competency for cooperation with parents which would be appropriate to use in regard to the population of Croatian kindergarten teachers while respecting organizational and cultural particularities. Therefore, the development of the instrument in this research represents a second level of scientific contribution. The final level of scientific contribution is the result of the application of the instrument and research results which have proven that the development of the competency for cooperation with parents, apart from the theoretical implementation, also requires a practical implementation. In addition to the contributions of this research, it should be noted that during the implementation the shortcomings of the research were noticed. One shortcoming is the nonrepresentability of the sample in relation to the founder of the institution, and in relation to the rural, i.e. urban area. Another shortcoming relates to research methods. Although the conducted research answered the problem and the purpose of the research, certain results require additional clarifications which cannot be obtained by means of questionnaires. An additional shortcoming is that this study is a self-evaluation, thus the research does not have an insight into whether the self-evaluation corresponds to the research participants’ actual competencies. Nevertheless, the research has provided the basis for possible new research which would address these shortcomings in its implementation. With regard to education as the key task of this research, it is understandable that the results can be used to improve the teachers’ education for cooperation with parents. Beneficiaries can be higher education institutions that can, based on this research, review the existing courses in teachers’ education for cooperation with parents, as well as the teaching itself. Research results can serve as a basis for the development of non-formal programs of teacher education in the field of cooperation with parents. They can be used as an incentive to create professional support communities for teachers which would address the issue of cooperation with parents and the improvement of modalities of cooperation with parents. In the end, the results of this research can serve as a starting point for new research on the kindergarten teachers’ competency for cooperation with parents.

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