The role of parents in education : a case study

Abstract

The education of children should not be the sole prerogative of teachers and schools; it requires a joint effort of the home, the school and the community. Thus all learning environments become places where parents and teachers can be actively involved in collaborative efforts supporting maximum learning for children. When parents are involved with schooling in positive ways, positive results occur. Attendance and achievement improve and parents and students develop better attitudes toward school. Empirical data shows that positive home-school relations are viable components of effective learning. We are no longer asking if families are important but how can they work together with education authorities so that students benefit the most. This was the rationale behind this study which was carried out in a state school which many consider as effective and which has its own vital ethos through which both teachers and students work in harmony. The study was qualitative in nature consisting of a number of in depth, semi-structured interviews while the researcher engaged himself in action research together with the rest of the staff: all were involved in a process of reflecting upon the present practice in terms of an evaluation of past actions with the aim of creating improvements in the present and future contexts. The data recovered was then analysed and contrasted. Results reflected the actual situation in areas such as communication, barriers to parental involvement, beliefs and effective participation levels. What stood out immediately was the significant level of deference which parents showed towards teachers, accounting for their continued reluctance to become fully involved in school decision-making process. Most interviewed parents showed they had developed a negative self-perception which further prevented them from contacting school personnel let alone participating in the life of the school. Moreover a crucial misconception about the definition and the role that each partner had to play in nurturing parental involvement and the absence of the proper communication structure to vindicate such involvement were found to be two major barriers. The study also identified a situation in which the Head of the school blamed the staff for their apathy while the later accused parents of lack of interest in what went on in the school. It calls for the creation of a real partnership in which parents, the Head and teachers work together to enhance parent involvement in their school. A clear and flexible design of parent involvement projects which will allow pmiicipants to customize programs to suit their needs is also called for.