Parental Involvement in School Pedagogy: A Threat or a Promise?

This paper brings together two rich bodies of knowledge that have barely intersected in research: parental involvement in the school and processes of pedagogical change. Until now, parental involvement has been studied in many contexts, but references to parental involvement in a school's pedagogy are rare. Management of pedagogical change has also been studied extensively, but mainly by relating to the school as an organisation that functions separately from the community context. This study, conducted in 2019-2021 (including the COVID-19 pandemic period), is based on 22 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with parents, principals, and senior education officials of two elementary schools in Israel that are undergoing pedagogical changes. The schools share some similar demographic characteristics but differ in pedagogy: One is an older school characterised by a traditional pedagogy (including, for example, frontal teaching and standardised evaluation); the other is new and was founded with innovative pedagogy in the spirit of the 21st century (for example, personalised teaching and alternative evaluation). The findings reveal that the parents in both schools are interested in influencing the school's pedagogy, but that they do so in opposite directions: The parents at the more traditional school are interested in promoting innovative learning, while the parents in the innovative school are interested in reintroducing traditional practices. The findings also contribute to the discussion of parental involvement from a gender perspective and the roles of key players. Finally, the article offers initial insights regarding parent-school relations, including the pedagogical aspects, following the COVID-19 pandemic.