Understanding Culturally Diverse Parents and Teachers : A Case Study of Parent Involvement at a Private International School in Thailand

Saint John Mary International School (SJMIS) in Saraburi, Thailand - where the majority of students are Thai - has been facing low response from parents, regardless of the ongoing reform efforts initiated by the elementary department to involve parents. Yet, most of the parents are interested and somehow involved at home and/or at school in their child’s education. However, both parents and teachers feel uneasy regarding parental involvement due to several factors such as differing perceptions of the parties, the language barrier, and the unfamiliar school system. The purpose of this case study was to describe, analyse and evaluate the nature of parent involvement at the SJMIS Elementary in order to do the following: assess the complex dynamics of parent involvement at SJMIS Elementary, examine the types of involvement that exist, and understand parents’ and teachers’ attitudes towards parent involvement based on their cultural background. The data were collected in multiple ways for this qualitative study such as individual and focus group interviews with 16 parents and 16 teachers representing 9 different nationalities, a follow-up survey completed by 51 participants, observations, and documentation and artefact review in August and September, 2019. A pragmatic iterative approach was applied to analyse the research data by using several coding cycles. The findings from this study strongly supported prior research showing that the majority of parents wanted their children to do well in school and had a desire to help their children to succeed regardless of their nationality. The findings also suggested that the majority of parents found the current school-family interactions satisfactory. Perceptions towards responsibilities were to some extent different among parents and teachers from diverse ethnicities/nationalities. The results suggest that regular face-to-face interactions initiated by the school between parents and teachers may strengthen trust and create a closer partnership among the members of the school community. Further research is required to determine how the school should serve underrepresented minorities. Furthermore, international school administrators should promote cultural diversity which also involves culturally competent care for children