Preservice educators' attitudes and beliefs towards families can have a profound impact on family-centered practices (FCPs) and family-professional partnerships (FPPs); unfortunately, negative beliefs about families can surface during preservice early childhood preparation and can be a challenge for faculty in higher education to address. This…

Consultation evenings, also known as parent-teacher conferences, are important opportunities for teachers to strengthen their relationships with caregivers. Many teachers, however, are unprepared, having had few opportunities to build skills and participate in real consultations during teacher training. To provide student teachers with more…

This qualitative study examined preservice special education teachers' (PSETs) movement toward critical consciousness and humility in working with families of children with disabilities using a Freirean lens grounded in three phases of consciousness: intransitive, transitive, and critical consciousness. The authors expanded upon a Family as…

This qualitative study examined the use of reflective journal prompts during the student teaching experience to gauge the success of seven areas of teacher preparation. Results varied by certification areas. Showed strengths in reflection, classroom management, and planning. The areas for growth centered on objectives and essential questions,…

Teacher preparation programs have acknowledged the need to address the topic of collaboration in coursework; however, few educator preparation programs require collaboration courses or address the interpersonal aspects involved in teaching in other required courses. Working with families is essential in the field of special education, and…

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled teachers to grapple with the challenge of distance learning and remote communication with pre-school children and their parents. This study examines how student-teachers perceived their and the teacher's relations with the pre-school children and parents during the first lockdown. The study is based on a…

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence the self-efficacy of undergraduate kindergarten teachers and kindergarten teachers to teach science in kindergarten. The research questions were: (1) To what extent, if at all, does the research participants' self-efficacy to teach science change following their academic…

A barrier to teacher retainment is the lack of professional preparedness. Limitations with live, hands-on teacher training can contribute to inadequate preparedness, particularly in home-school collaboration. This pilot feasibility study explored using virtual reality simulation (VRS) technology with ninety-seven pre-service teachers in Norway,…

This study examined concerns that teacher candidates have about communicating with families and studied the use of three simulation techniques to enhance candidates' confidence and perception of preparedness for communicating with diverse families. Twenty-five teacher candidates in a senior-level education class participated in three simulation…

Australian preservice teachers (PSTs) are required to show evidence that they can 'engage with parents/carers' (AITSL Standard 7.3). This paper reports on a pilot study of PSTs, in their final year within an Initial Teacher Education programme, in a mixed reality learning environment immersing themselves in authentic and challenging conversations…

After schools were closed in AY 2019-2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers were expected to continue two-way communication and collaboration with their students' families without much guidance. In this study, we focus on how five teacher candidates navigated and continued their efforts of communication and collaboration with students'…

Teacher-parent communication is one of the domains in teacher education where the gap between theory and practice is evident. Although teacher-education programmes are responsible for developing preservice teachers' (PSTs') effective parent-teacher communication skills, such interactions are rarely practiced during the training. Simulation-Based…

The aim of the study is to deepen understanding of educators' daily practices in the Northern ECEC through the lenses of culturally responsive teaching. The research material consists of two-staged peer interviews with 10 educators, which were selected from the whole research material for detailed analysis. The main finding of this study is…

Denmark and Sweden have witnessed a historically significant amplification of parental influence in compulsory schools during the past two decades. The emphasis on parental involvement in these two countries reflects international trends of neoliberal governing of educational processes. We know very little about the interplay between beginning…

Communication is one of the key components of family-school collaboration. In addition to the common benefits seen with family-school collaboration (increased attendance, increased academic performance, decrease of problem behaviors), communication allows for information about a student's growth and development to be shared between the home and…