Do Parents Have Trust in Teachers? -Focused on the Parents of underachieving high school students

The purpose of this research was to investigate how much the parents of underachieving high-school students trust in their school teachers. In order to accomplish this purpose, the data for the research was gathered through the interviews with seventeen parents. These data were analyzed using qualitative data analysis. The results of this study were as follows: First, there is little contact between the parents of underachieving high-school students and their school teachers. Second, there is a disjunction between the parents’ expectation for their school teachers and their performance in career guidance, teaching, and life guidance. Third, school organization (overcrowded class, departmental system, teachers’ overloaded work), school culture(cultural of entrance, parents’ reliance on private education, denial of the school parents as subject of education), and educational policies(complexity and frequent change of the system of college entrance exam, Personal Information Act, lack of school autonomy) had an undue effect on the parents of underachieving high-school students’ trust in their school teachers. In conclusion, parents need to have a great deal of opportunity to meet their school teachers. High school teachers need to have an expertise in career guidance, teaching, and life guidance. Some innovations in school organization, school culture, and educational policies are required for the parents of underachieving high-school students to have a lot of trust in their school teachers.