Abstract
This paper examines features of the talk in a number of teacher-parent interviews recently audio-recorded in a secondary school in Brisbane, Australia. The central topic of the talk is the academic achievement of the student. In offering accounts of the student's achievement, participants offer ‘moral versions’ of themselves as parents and teachers. These institutional identities are oriented to and elaborated in the course and in the organisation of this talk. The student about whom the talk is done is present but largely silent, an ‘overhearing audience’ to this talk. The analysis shows how parents and teachers talk two institutions, and the relation between them, into being.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Atkinson, J.M. and Drew, P. (1979).Order in court: The organization of verbal interaction in judicial settings. London: Macmillan.
Bell, A. (1985). Community participation in education.FOSCO News 7(4): 11–12.
Blakers, C. (1983). Having a say: Parent participation in school decision making. In R.K. Browne and L.E. Foster (Eds.),The sociology of education. Melbourne: Macmillan Australia.
Cattermole, J. and Robinson, N.C. (1987). Effective home-school communication: What parents think.The Practising Administrator 9(4): 18–20.
Connell, R.W. (1985).Teachers' work. Sydney: George Allen and Unwin.
Connell, R.W., Ashenden, D. Kessler, S. and Dowsett, G. (1982).Making the difference: Schools, families and social division. Sydney: George Allen and Unwin.
Corwin, R.G. and Wagenaar, T.C. (1976). Boundary interaction between service organizations and their publics: A study of teacher-parent relationships.Social Forces 55(2): 471–492.
Davis, K. (1988). Paternalism under the microscope. In A.D. Todd and S. Fisher (Eds.),Gender and discourse: The power of talk. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Elliott, A. (1980). Meaningful parent — teacher conferences.Primary Journal 3: 9–11.
Fisher, S. (1983). Doctor talk/patient talk: How treatment decisions are negotiated. In S. Fisher and A.D. Todd (Eds.),The organization of doctor-patient communication. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Fisher, S. and Todd, A.D. (1983). Introduction: Communication and social control. In S. Fisher and A.D. Todd (Eds.),The social organization of doctor-patient communication. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Griffith, M. (1986). How do we find out what parents think?The Australian Teacher; 15: 8–9.
Gronn, P.C. (1983). Talk as the work: The accomplishment of school administration.Administrative Science Quarterly 28: 1–21.
Heritage, J. (1984).Garfinkel and ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Heritage, J. (1985). Analyzing news interviews: Aspects of the production of talk for an overhearing audience. In T.A. van Dijk (Ed.)Handbook of discourse analysis, Vol. 3: Discourse and dialogue. London: Academic Press.
Heritage, J.C. and Watson, D.R. (1979). Formulations as conversational objects. In G. Psathas (Ed.),Everyday language: Studies in ethnomethodology. New York: Irvington.
Hustler, D.E. and Payne, G.C.F. (1982). Power in the Classroom.Research in Education 28: 49–64.
Jenkins, A. (1982). Parent participation in education.FOSCO News 4(5): 10–11.
Keogh, J. (1992).Identity, ideology and power: A study of parent-teacher interviews. Unpublished M. Ed. thesis. University of New England.
Liberman, K. (1992). A natural history of some intercultural communication. Paper presented at the international conference, Ethnomethodology: Twenty-Five Years Later. Bentley College, MA.
Limerick, B. (1987). Parents in secondary schools: Apathetic or turned off? In J. Fanshawe and B. Limerick (Eds.),School, community and society: A resource book. Brisbane: Brisbane College of Advanced Education.
Meade, P. (1984).The participation of parents in Australian schooling: A review of selected literature. Brisbane College of Advanced Education.
Meade, P. (1987). What do parents really want to know about their child at school?The Practising Administrator 9(3): 36–39.
Mehan, H. (1983). The role of language and the language of role in institutional decision making.Language in Society 12: 187–211.
Mehan, H. (1979).Learning lessons: Social organisation in the classroom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Mellor, W.L. and Hayden, P.M. (1981). Issues and channels in communications between a school and its parental environment.Journal of Education Administration 19(1): 55–67.
Mittler, P. (1987). The need for parent-teacher collaboration for children with learning disabilities.Prospects 17(2): 175–184.
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J.M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (Eds.)Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pomerantz, A. (1978). Compliment responses: Notes on the co-operation of multiple constraints. In J. Schenkein (Ed.),Studies in the organization of conversational interaction. New York: Academic Press.
Power, T.J. (1985) Perceptions of competence: How parents and teachers view each other.Psychology in the Schools 22: 68–78.
Schegloff, E.A. and Sacks, H. (1973). Opening up closings.Semiotica 8: 289–327.
Shannon, D. (1986). Parents' notes: Challenge to teachers' comprehending abilities.The Reading Teacher 39(9): 884–888.
Sharp, R. and Green, A. (1975).Education and social control: A study in progressive primary education. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Silverman, D. (1987).Communication and medical practice: Social relations in the clinic. London: Sage.
Silverman, D. and Perakyla, A. (1990). AIDS counselling: The interactional organisation of talk about ‘delicate’ issues.Sociology of Health and Illness 12(3): 293–318.
Smith, D.E. (1987).The everyday world as problematic: A feminist sociology. Boston: Northeastern Press.
Stafford, L. (1987). Parent-teacher communication.Communication Education 36(2): 182–187.
Strong, P.M. (1979).The ceremonial order of the clinic: Parents, doctors and medical bureaucracies. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
ten Have, P. (1989). The consultation as a genre. In B. Torode (Ed.),Text and talk as social practice. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.
ten Have, P. (1991). Talk and institution: A reconsideration of the “asymmetry” of doctor-patient interaction. In D. Boden and D. Zimmerman (Eds.),Talk and social structure: Studies in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Todd, A.D. (1983). A diagnosis of doctor-patient discourse in the prescription of contraception. In S. Fisher and A.D. Todd (Eds.),The social organization of doctor-patient communication. Washington, DC: Centre for Applied Linguistics.
Todd, A.D. and Fisher, S. (Eds.). (1988).Gender and discourse: The power of talk. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Voysey, M. (1975).A constant burden: The reconstitution of family life. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Waller, W. (1932).The sociology of teaching. New York: Wiley.
West, C. (1984).Routine complications: Troubles with talk between doctors and patients. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
West, C. (1990). Not just “doctors' orders”: Directive-response sequences in patients' visits to women and men physicians.Discourse and Society 1(1): 85–112.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We wish to thank the participants in the interviews for their agreement to have the interviews audio-recorded.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baker, C., Keogh, J. Accounting for achievement in parent-teacher interviews. Hum Stud 18, 263–300 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323213
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323213