Conflict between truthfulness and tact in parent–teacher conferences

The purpose of this article is to explore how teachers’ and parents’ conversations are affected by their notions about truthfulness. The study is qualitative and draws on data from observations of parent–teacher conferences about pupils with special needs in a Norwegian lower secondary school and from interviews with participants. The findings show that teachers’ and parents’ conversations are constrained by positive talk, decency and silence and, especially when the pupil participates, they choose a careful point of view, gloss over it, and talk about what is OK and not unpleasant. Furthermore, teachers act communicatively in a strategic way. It is concluded that teachers and parents often choose to follow conventions of tact and that this might be in conflict with truthfulness. It is further concluded that teachers and parents do not hold dialogue as an exclusive ideal.