The role of partnership practices in strengthening parental trust

Partnerships between parents and preschools (PPP), including parental trust as a key element, are crucial for child development. This exploratory study examined the type and intensity of partnership activities to which parents were invited and their contributions to parental trust, as well as preschool and teacher characteristics that predicted these activities. A total of 891 teachers and 728 families from 162 German preschools participated in the study. Path analyses showed parents reported higher levels of trust in preschools that offered a greater number of partnership activities for participation and decision-making as well as for parental education. In addition, results indicate that preschool and teacher characteristics, such as ethnic composition and professional competencies, predicted the type and intensity of partnership activities. Consequently, training programmes should make use of these results to enhance preschool teachers’ competencies with regard to PPP, and thereby to strengthen parental trust.