Parental involvement: an issue for Swiss primary school teacher education

Abstract

This article is the Swiss contribution to the European project ‘Collaboration on Improving Students’ Preparation for Family–School Partnerships’. It presents results from a study investigating how Swiss Schools of Teacher Education prepare primary school students for cooperation with the parents of four- to thirteen-year-old pupils. Nine Schools of Teacher Education in the German-speaking part of Switzerland were surveyed. The study conducted questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews and document analysis on this topic. This article focuses on the results for primary school teacher education. The findings show that Swiss primary school teacher education programmes accord importance to family–school cooperation. All Schools of Teacher Education cover the topic of family–school cooperation either by conducting special courses on this subject or by connecting the subject with other courses. However, the content and extent of the coverage of and linkages to family–school cooperation in the courses largely depends on the individual educator. Moreover, preparing for family–school cooperation is an important issue during in-field training. The results of this study differ from those in other countries and contradict common prejudices in public perception on the issue in Switzerland.