Making it happen: A grounded theory study of inservice teacher training for parent involvement in schools

Abstract

Effective parent involvement programmes depend primarily on the capacities of teachers to work effectively with families in school- based initiatives. However, teachers generally receive little preparation for parent involvement. Responding to this need, an in-service teacher education programme has been introduced at a South African university. Teachers enrolled in the programme are required to complete a field-based assignment entailing the implementation of a parent involvement activity in their schools. A grounded theory inquiry was conducted to explore how teachers made this happen and to develop a substantive theory in this regard. Teachers' written accounts of the activity were selected over a twoyear period by means of theoretical sampling and were then analysed, using grounded theory coding and constant comparative analysis. The emerging substantive theory suggests that the core categories at work in the schools interact and form a pattern that could be repeated over time to improve the frequency and quality of parent involvement. © 2011 Centre for Education Practice Research (CEPR).