Parental trust in school and teachers and its development. A qualitative longitudinal study on the transition from primary to secondary school.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Inka Bormann
• Subject Area: Educational Research on Socialization, Welfare and Professionalism
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 541670190

Trust is a characteristic of the relationship between home and school. This relationship is of great importance for the successful education of children. However, little is known about what parents consider relevant to trust in their relationship with schools and teachers. Using the example of an important contextual change, their child's transition from primary to secondary school, this project examines the development of trust from the parents' perspective. First, the project aims to identify relevant conditions for parental trust in schools and teachers. Second, it seeks to identify different types of parental trust in schools and teachers. Third, the project intends to identify the development of parental trust over time. Designed as a qualitative longitudinal study (panel study), the project will examine differences in the perceptions and significance of the transition from elementary to secondary school for parents' general and specific interpersonal and institutional trust. Theoretically, the project connects to differential theoretical approaches in trust and transition research. Methodologically, it works with episodic interviews that will be conducted three times with parents in Berlin over a period of 20 months. The transcripts are evaluated using qualitative content analysis. The project's contribution will include theoretically and empirically grounded findings on the development of trust in teachers and school during the child's transition from primary to secondary school from the perspective of parents. By linking trust, transition, and parent research and focusing on the development of trust, the project provides new, differentiated insights into the importance of parental relationships with schools and teachers in shaping trusting relationships during the child's transition from elementary to secondary school.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants