Case Study 2: A Study on the Parental Involvement in Education using an

According to Hornby & Lafaele (2011, p. 45) parental involvement is crucial for proper child development. Parental involvement has been an issue in the education sector and can be noted to for its wide rhetoric that support it and the significant variables of the reality of its practice. Hornby & Lafaele (2011) noted that the gap between rhetoric and reality in parental involvement has arisen from the effects of the factors at the levels of parent and family, parent-teacher, and the society in general. These aspects act as barriers to the

development of an effective parental involvement in schools. This is driven by the beliefs of the parents concerning parental involvement. There is a number of parents who belief that the parental involvement is important to the children while there are others who find it not

61

important to be involved with issues relating to their children in schools. Those parents that believe they do not add any value towards the wellbeing of their students in school offer a big challenge to the teachers and the school management in general. This aspect of the parents believing that they are not relevant in school is common in schools and ends up affecting the performance and attitudes of the children. There are a number of aspects that influence parental involvement such as the contemporary life contexts of the parents, class, perceptions of the invitations for involvement, gender, and ethnicity. Ethnicity is a major factor that influences parental involvement because of the cultural differences among different groups. There are ethnicities that are perceived as the minorities, which makes them to feel like they are not part of the society. The study conducted by Hornby and Lafaele showed that the ethnicity is a major barrier in the parental involvement. This is because different ethnicities have cultural differences that develops a negative attitude on the relationship between parents and teachers.

The study also focused on how the parent-teacher factors act as the barriers towards parental involvement in schools. Factors between parents and teacher may include differing agendas, language used, behavior issues, and attitudes. The plans of the parents and that of the teachers during parent meeting are different. These differences creates a gap between the relationship of the teachers and parents, which makes the parents to find it hard to continue participating in the affairs of the school. The differences in the agendas between parents and teachers are caused by various factors such as poor communication, misinformation, and perceptions. Teachers sometimes fail to elaborate their intentions to invite the parents to school meetings and parents come with a different viewpoint concerning the occasion. After such meetings, the parents start to find it difficult to attend these meetings because they feel that the parents hence becoming a barrier to parental involvement are not hearing them. The attitudes and language used in the parent-teacher meetings is vital on parental involvement.

62

Due to immigration, the use of a certain language in the school may limit the immigrants particularly by how they relate with others. The language also cultivates the attitudes of the parents. These aspects plays a major role in the relationship between teachers and parents and may cause parents to distance themselves from being involved with the school matters.

The model also focused on the factors of the society that influence parental

involvement such as political issues, economic issues, historic and demographic issues. The political structure of a country determines the relationship between the parents and teachers. This depends on the level of attention that the government has dedicated on schools.

Countries that do not ensure that the schools maintain good ties with the society, especially the parents experience challenges with parental involvement. Most of the governments have not ensured that parents and teacher are equally involved in the progress of the children during their education process. This makes the parents to have a notion that the teachers and the school can only address the matters of education. Another issue that affects involvement of parents in schools is the economy of a country. Economic issues prevents the parents from actively engaging in school matters because of the struggles they go through. They find it difficult to attend school meetings and functions and prefer to work more in order to make a living for their families. Moreover, economic issues affects the schools as well and the teacher fail to emphasize on the importance to engage the parents in the children‟s academic progress. Consequently, this has become a major barrier to parental involvement in many countries and it affects the performance and development of the children. Additionally, some parents use the historic issues in the modern society. They use their experiences during their times in school to justify their lack of involvement with the education of their parents. Since probably during their times in school there was no parental involvement in schools they feel that they do not need to engage with their children as well. Using the issues of the history has been a

63

prevailing barrier in the involvement of the school and this has continued to affect the children in schools.

Hornby & Lafaele (2011, p. 41) asserted that raising a child requires the collective efforts of children teachers, parents and the general social structure. Lack of parental involvement in the upbringing of these children interferes with their proper growth and development. It is important to combine all the factors together to ensure that effective

parental involvement is ensured in schools. Additionally, the lack of balance between parental influence and teaching practices interferes with the effective sociocultural balance of the children. Applying the explanatory model to thus subject will enable the professionals in education to attain an in-depth understanding of the barriers to parental involvement. It creates a wells established platform to identify methods that can be used to improve the manner in which the parents are involved with the schools.

4.1.3 Case Study 3: The Effects of Immigration on the Rise of Minority Parents in