BUILDING INTERCULTURAL SOCIAL COMPETENCE IN FUTURE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS THROUGH STRUCTURED PARENT ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS

This article investigates how structured parent engagement programs embedded in teacher preparation curricula can serve as a powerful vehicle for developing intercultural social competence in future primary school teachers. In increasingly diverse educational settings, the capacity to work respectfully and effectively with families from varied cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds has emerged as a critical professional competency. The article draws on intercultural communication theory, the ecological model of teacher professional development, and empirical findings from teacher preparation programs in Europe, Asia, and Central Asia to argue that genuine parent engagement — as distinct from passive observation or procedural compliance — cultivates the interpersonal sensitivity, cultural awareness, and collaborative orientation that define intercultural social competence. A three-phase developmental model is proposed, moving from awareness to skill acquisition to integrated professional practice, with specific program components and assessment criteria for each phase. The Uzbek educational context, with its distinctive cultural traditions of community solidarity and family involvement in children's education, provides a recurring contextual reference. The article concludes that structured parent engagement programs, when designed with pedagogical intentionality, represent not merely a training exercise but a transformative dimension of teacher professional formation.