Stimulating parental involvement in vocational education and training (VET): A case study based on learning histories of teachers, principals, students, and their parents

Despite the abundance of literature suggesting that parents play an important role in supporting students’ academic success, vocational education and training teachers receive no training or preparation for involving parents. Using learning history method, we qualitatively investigated teachers’ attempts to stimulate parental involvement from multiple perspectives and analyzed professional learning within the organization. The goals of this study were to examine (1) the effects brought by the intervention program on teachers, and (2) factors that affected the effectiveness of the intervention. Results are discussed with special attention to the connection between teacher beliefs and practices and possibilities for future research.