‘I am the boss of the team’

Autor(en)

Yan Li, Seyda Subasi Singh, Jiacheng Li

Abstrakt

While parental involvement (PI) is widely recognized as critical to early childhood education and care (ECEC), most research reflects Western urban contexts, with limited attention to rural and non-Western settings. This study explores how ECEC teachers in rural China perceive PI, focusing on power asymmetries and sociocultural context in parent-teacher relationships. Six focus groups were conducted with 37 female teachers. The findings indicate that teachers framed PI as ‘educating parents’ to align home practices with institutional norms. Teachers tended to position themselves as decision-makers, and migration-driven grandparent caregiving and rural-urban disparities constrained PI. The findings of the study suggest that reciprocity is desired, yet unevenly practiced. The study reveals how rural Chinese teachers replicate Western urban hierarchies, exacerbating power imbalances. It challenges universal PI models and calls for dialogic and context-responsive teacher training reforms to foster equitable partnerships.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Lehrer*innenbildung

Externe Organisation(en)

Jiangnan University, East China Normal University

Journal

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal

ISSN

1350-293X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2026.2618685

Publikationsdatum

2026

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

503006 Bildungsforschung

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Education, Developmental and Educational Psychology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 4 – Hochwertige Bildung

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/bdd1c029-e145-4332-9ad8-e8d8b611aa78