Squelch (1994:52) describes parental involvement as occurring when parents are willing to participate in school and home activities. Cotton (2001:1) states that parental involvement means that parents support their children’s schooling by attending school functions and responding to school obligations. Parents can become involved in their children’s education by “helping their children to improve their schoolwork, providing encouragement, arranging for appropriate study time and space, modelling desired behaviour (such as reading for pleasure) and monitoring, their children’s homework” (Feiler, Andrews, Greenhough, Hughes, Johnson, Scalan & Yee 2008:12-18).
Research and major reform efforts recognise parental involvement as a critical ingredient for children’s success at school (Anderson & Minke 2007:311; McKenzie & Loebenstein 2007:187; Lemmer & Van Wyk 2004:260; Kruger 2003:9). Parents are thus increasingly viewed as the most important people in their children’s educational environment, who have the greatest influence on their children’s success at school. Essentially, parental involvement improves children’s chances of performing better at school. Parental involvement, including parental engagement and community participation, therefore directly and positively affects learner outcomes (Sheely & Bratton 2010:3; Van der Werf, Creemers & Guldemond 2001:448).
Parents who are concerned about their children should invest there time in their children’s education. This is seen by the Department of Education (1996:13) as a legal responsibility of any parent or caregiver. The basic rights of children imply that parents must accept responsibility for their child’s well-being, protection, and growth towards adulthood. Children’s rights require parents to play an integral part in their children’s education. This means that the parents become the primary support structure for their children’s education and training. Schools and parents must therefore collaborate to ensure that learners are provided with effective education. Schools are a formalised extension of the family and, according to Van der Walt (1992:226), Wolfendale (1992:32), and Heystek (2002:111), they should thus adhere to the same norms and standards as the family. This relationship of the school and the parents with the child creates an opportunity for parents and teachers to enter into a more formalised and structured partnership regarding the education of the child.
Families play a vital part in the education of children (Frederickson & Cline 2002:212). Children perceive their families as consisting of people who are closest to them and who care for them day after day. According to Bronfenbrenner (1979), the microsystem consists of family members, which may include a mother, a father, and their children. The microsystem may also include neighbours, family friends, and partners. (Donald et al. 2002:47; Bronfenbrenner 1979), as discussed in sections 1.8.1, 2.6, 3.10, and 6.2. This implies that family members are shaped through patterns of daily activities, roles, and relationships. Family units shape children’s social and emotional development, provide the most essential educational environment for children, and act as the main vehicle through which community and broader social values are transmitted (Watts, Cockcroft & Duncan 2009:505; Donald et al. 2002:259-260).
It is important to note that families are the building blocks for a strong society and nation. Firstly, parents play an influential role in teaching children their vernacular languages, goals, and values. This may take place while talking at breakfast, chatting on a bus ride, reading a bedtime story or having a general conversation. Secondly, parents need to spend time listening to their children, discovering what their interests and problems are, and passing on advice and values, such as the
importance of hard work and respect. Thirdly, family involvement in school activities is commonly recognised as a substantial benefit to everyone involved (Canfield & Hansen 1993:57). It can be assumed that the family’s involvement in school activities has a positive effect on the child (Ferrara & Ferrara 2005:77; Hawes & Plourde 2005:50; Dearing, Kreider & Weiss 2008:228) and that children that grow up in such an environment will generally do everything in their power to make their parents proud. This means that the influences at home and at school, as well as the influences of peer and family groups, play a pivotal part in the education of the child (Watts, Cockcroft & Duncan 2009:506).
Collaboration between parents and teachers’ thus becomes essential, and the actual roles of parents should be explored within this dynamic collaboration. Parents serve as advocates for the school in a wider community (Shepard & Rose 1995, as mentioned in section 4.4). For instance, parental involvement, and its influence on a learner’s achievement, is far-reaching (Van der Werf, Creemers & Guldemond 2001:448). It is important, because it results in better learner attendance and fewer discipline problems in the classroom. Teachers can benefit from parental involvement, because the parents offer them useful insight about their children in terms of learning and discipline (Hayden 2009:205), which enables teachers to teach in an environment where learning will occur, without them having to be concerned about social problems (Watts, Cockcroft & Duncan 2009:507; Bronfenbrenner1979).
Involved parents can also assist with school activities, for example by working in the classroom to help the teacher with supervision, creating a garden, or playing an active role in the school governing body (SGB). The involvement of parents can take various forms, such as attending school functions, serving as classroom volunteers (Epstein 2002), and written homework activities (as discussed in section 4.3). Edwards and Alldred (2000:3) support this view, suggesting that the home setting should be adapted to create an educational environment, with a suitable homework environment to develop children’s learning. Parental involvement can benefit the teacher as well as helping and thereby empowering parents to support their children’s learning.
As a given framework for parent-teacher interaction, the No Child Left Behind campaign (White House 2001:32) recommended the following:
That parents play an integral role in assisting in their children’s learning;
That parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their children’s education at school; and
That parents become full partners in their children’s education and are included, where relevant, in decision-making and serve on advisory committees to assist in the education of their children.
In the next section the importance of parental involvement will be discussed.