| dc.description.abstract | This study explores how treating education as a private commodity may affect parent-teacher
relationships, including the ways that parents perceive they are treated. The effects of
neoliberal ideology on education transform schooling into a commodity and positions students
and parents as clients. This research helps to inform both parents as well as teachers about the
broader forces that may influence their interactions. Marketplace values shape educational acts
and legislation through, for example, the imposition of standardised tests, management of teacher
performance, and an increasingly higher-level of accountability. Such policies and procedures
entail a shift towards teachers regarding parents more as clients to please or pander to, rather
than as partners working together for the good of the children. Through one-on-one interviews
with parents, the research question focuses on the examination of how neoliberal ideology might
shape parent-teacher interactions and parents' self-perceived role in the schools of their
children. Overall, the parents I interviewed did not view education as a commodity and teachers
as service providers, but as my literature review demonstrated, there are many parents who do
and will continue to make demands of teachers. | en_US |
