Date of Award
9-6-2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Judson Everitt
Abstract
This study builds upon a plethora of educational research and focuses specifically on middle school grade level teachers. I predominantly utilized qualitative interviews to understand how teachers respond to parental demands; these answers were supplemented by some quantitative data about their schools. The study configures information about teachers’ school environments and requirements, teachers’ interactions with parents, and how teachers deal with parental demands in relation to other demands and requirements. Effort was made to investigate how teacher experience, teaching style, and subject matter as well as school type (e.g., socio-economic makeup of the school) and school location influence parental demands and teacher sense-making of those demands. Moreover, teacher interview responses provide a window into student and parent status and circumstances. And, this study discusses relevancy to organizational sociology, sociology of education, and other theoretical tenets. This study found evidence of parent communication in relation to parental demands, how socio-economic status and culture interacted in those findings, and how teachers react to these and other duties.
Recommended Citation
Battafarano, Kathryn, "Understanding Teachers’ Responses to Parental Demands in the Midst of Competing Responsibilities" (2024). Master's Theses. 4556.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/4556
