Barriers to Developing Parent-Teacher Relationships from Parents’ Perspectives

Cooperation between parents and teachers is a key factor influencing children’s school success, yet its development is often hindered by insufficient communication, time constraints, and socioeconomic inequalities. The aim of the study is to identify and analyse potential barriers to developing cooperation between parents and teachers in the Slovak primary education context. The research instrument was a questionnaire of our construction designed for Slovak parents of children at the primary level of education (n = 320). We tested the reliability and validity of the questionnaire by Cronbach’s α (0.69 0.7), which confirmed the internal consistency of the questionnaire. We statistically analysed the research findings using Pearson’s x² Goodness-of-Fit test. The research sample consisted of Slovak parents having a child in primary school, and they differentiated according to family socioeconomic indicators. The research showed that the parents’ and teachers’ busyness and the absence of motivation for cooperation represent potential barriers to developing collaboration family and school. Also parents’ socioeconomic status impacts the perception of barriers to developing family-school relations, with the most decisive significance mainly observed for parents’ education and profession. The study highlights the role of socioeconomic factors as key determinants in shaping parents’ perceptions of cooperation barriers – an area that has been insufficiently addressed in the broader in international research context.