This paper discusses assumptions, purposes, obstacles and techniques of parent/staff interaction in a day care setting. Regular, goal-directed communication between parents and teachers can reduce the complexity of the environment children experience and facilitate their socialization. Why, then, do parents and teachers rarely communicate? Some barriers to effective communication are racial and class differences, staff attitudes about parents who choose day care, and attitudes about the roles of parents and child care personnel. Other obstacles are lack of societal support for day care services, lack of time to make shared decisions, the tendency of staff to monopolize information needed to make decisions, and the youth and non-parent status of many child care teachers. Techniques for improving interaction between parents and teachers include a shared belief in broad-based participation in child care and education programs, articulation of guidelines that set out formal decision-making procedures, organization of decision-making structures that are appropriate to the program's size and its members' style, and providing access to the facts and knowledge needed to make sound decisions. Further, parents and staff should be trained in skills needed for decision-making, parents' skills and areas of interest should be identified to establish a basis for parent participation, and informal activities that help parents and staff interact should be provided. (Author/RH)