ABSTRACT
Talking to teachers is an important part of home-school relationships and yet research into parental involvement rarely includes any discussion of the vast range of communication between parents and their children’s teachers. In this chapter the main focus is on oral communication between mothers and teachers, although I also analyze written communication sent from home into the two schools. It is in linguistic interaction that existing power dynamics between mothers and teachers become most apparent. Everyday communication between teachers and mothers is shaped by the differential social power that individuals bring to their interactions. Differences of social class make a difference both to how mothers communicate with their children’s teachers and the ways in which their words are received.
