Defining Parental Engagement in ITE: from relationships to partnerships

This paper presents a unique view of the perceived value of parental engagement with children’s learning within Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Wales, the first such investigation of its kind. This paper arises from a research project sponsored by Welsh Government and undertaken by teams from Swansea and Bangor Universities. The paper reports the views of ITE providers, student teachers, mentors, parents and external stakeholders, regarding their experiences during the pandemic lockdown. The research found that while parental engagement was valued by all stakeholders, there was a lack of consistency about how this was defined and enacted. The paper proposes a disjuncture between espoused theory and theory in action, in relation to parental engagement in children’s learning, and ends with recommendations for policy, practice and further research.