Abstract:

Parent–teacher conferences are an annual ritual, in which the knowledge of parents about their child comes up against the professional knowledge of the teacher. Parents attend the conferences in order to receive confirmation of what they already think about their child’s progress. Their influence at the conferences at first sight seems limited and the conversations appear to follow a strict scheme imposed by the school. However, this paper explores the hypothesis that it is not just the case that the school context restricts the conversations; the conversations also influence the school as an institution. The school, in order to fulfill its role as an educating/socializing institution properly, needs to find agreement with the environment – here, the parents – and these conversations form a moment where the institution is constituted. This paper contributes to the literature on boundary-work by applying ideas of permeable boundaries that are (re-)created in interaction. It uses qualitative data and conversation analytical methods based on a corpus of 80 audio recordings from parent–teacher conferences to show the actual processes of this boundary-work on the micro level and its effects on the institution.

Author: Rosalie Forster