Parental Involvement in the Learning Processes of Their Children - Literature review Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Parental involvement in the learning processes of their children Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Abstract The study is aimed at finding out ways through which the parents can get involved in the learning process of their children at all levels of education. This is necessary due to the reforms in the lifestyles thus more parents are spending their time in others activities especially those entailing the economic development and neglecting the responsibilities of monitoring the learning of their children. There are other factors which are affecting the parental involvement in the education of their children such as death of parents or divorce thus leading to many cases of single parenthood. These parents do not have enough time to monitor the learning activities of their children hence they delegate these responsibilities to the teachers and other professionals in the education sector. The study also focuses on the important of good interaction between the parents, children and the education personnel so as to boost smooth learning of the children. The parents are able to understand the contents covered by their children therefore, they are able to conduct home based learning. Parental involvement in the learning processes of their children Introduction The behaviour or achievement of children is determined mostly by their parents. This is because they have time to monitor their children as they grow thus they are able to realise the potentials, capabilities or disabilities and are able to guide the children to meet their short and long term goals and objectives(Hornby, 2000). The involvement of parents in the lives of their children at all levels of education has become one of the most essential moves which are having positive effects on the overall goal. This does not mean applying extreme parenting behaviours which can restrict children of their basic freedom but it means enhancement of the understanding of the personalities of the student by all the parties of education ranging from the teachers, parents and other education philosophers(Moon et al, 2004). Parents are the prime educators of their children because they offer most of the basic education. They have the largest responsibility in influencing the behaviour of their children when they are young and throughout their learning until they get to the level at which they may be able to make their own wise decisions. Parents as the prime educators of their children There are many and great challenges that today’s parents are facing as they struggle to be active and fully involved in the education and growth of their children which requires time, energy and effort. Most of the research reports have shown that the right involvement of parents in the academic achievements of their children has improved their performance because of the development of self-esteem as well as motivating the children to work hard and appreciate their school work (University Microfilms New York, 2002). Some primary school pupils might not be able to express themselves or decide what is best for them; however their parents may be able to judge what is good for them by analysing the activities taking place at school and the abilities or potential of their children. For example, if the child is good at extra-curricular activities and the school offers these services, the parent can encourage the child to concentrate on the areas that he or she thinks the child has some potential in depending on the agreement with the other educational personnel (Card, 2001). Unlike academic professionals who have syllabuses and modules to guide them on the areas to cover in education, there is no universal agreement on the levels of parental involvement to be considered by parents (Taylor, 2000). This can take any form and depends on the commitment of the parent depending either on their professional and individual understanding. There are many activities which are taking place in current society especially efforts to improve economic development thus parents are concentrating on their economic activities like jobs and seem to be neglecting their parental responsibilities. Parenting responsibilities are being left to the house helps and day care centres. Other children are less fortunate because they have no house helps who are literate enough to shed lights on their academic development thus they spend most of their free time watching television and involving themselves in social activities which are likely to spoil them (University Microfilms New York, 2002). Parental involvement According to reports of most of the specialists like Diana Knudson of McAllen High School and Claudia Olivares of Castañeda Elementary on the topic, parental involvement is becoming one of the most essential things in the field of education. This is because there are many things which act as source of knowledge to the young people apart from school based learning. There are also many and differing ways through which parents can involve themselves in the learning stages of their children. The parents can create good parenting styles whereby the children will grow up in a good home environment with good learning conditions. This helps the parents to monitor the sources of information for their children thus they are able to concentrate on their education. (Moon et al, 2004). According to Hornby (2000), the impact of parental involvement in the student’s outcomes at all levels of education. It also considers such aspects as the differences made by the families on the achievement of their children, what happens when the parents are involved in the education of their children; both positive and negative effects and various ways through which parents are involved in the education of their children (Hornby, 2000). Parental involvement in all processes of the education of their children Parental involvement differs with the personalities of the concerned and the levels of education of the child. The concern of the parent mostly declines as the child grows old or improves his level of education. At the primary or foundation level, the parents are always very concerned about the prosperity of the education of their children, thus it is less in secondary school than in the elementary. Most of the parents assume that grown up children in the secondary schools and other higher levels of education have full understanding of what they want in life and their short term goals and short term objectives. They are able to develop strategies and plan ways of implementing their set action plans, these children are then left on their own or on the hands of their school teachers (Card, 2001). There is always a good bond between teachers, parents and children when at their early stages of education. This is mostly because the parents are interested or eager to discover the education ability of their children and the teachers are also interested in discovering the personalities of the child and moulding it to their interests. Once the parents have really understood their children they build some trust in them hence as they grow up they slowly give them freedom to make any decision in their field of education (Moon and Mayes, 2004). The other reason as to why parents may seem less concerned about the education of their children, especially in the higher learning levels, is because of lack of understanding. The education systems are rapidly changing and to some parents it is becoming complicated to understand it in detail thus they prefer delegating all responsibilities to the teachers. The non-traditional families are struggling hard to deal with the major aspects affecting almost every member of the family; this has negative effects in the parental involvement in the students’ education. There are a lot of activities awaiting the attention of the parents thus although they may be willing to be fully involved in the progress of their children, they have no time especially during the day when they visit the schools and discuss issues pertaining the performance of their children or talking to their children especially after school as an assessment of their performance (Topping and Wolfendale, 2010). There are many social factors which are common in the today’s society that are affecting the involvement of the parents in the education of their children. Such factors as divorce or premature deaths of one of the parents are negatively affecting the stability and security of families, for example, changes in the financial conditions of the family as one parents is left to cater for the needs of all members thus almost every second of his or her life is spent trying to attend to the economic activities (Smart, 2010). This parent may not have time to discuss their child with the teacher or other education personnel but rather appreciate all the outcomes even though not satisfying. The problem arises in the situation whereby the schools or the teachers do not understand the reason for lack of involvement of parents in the progress of the child in school; instead they assume that its ignorance and/or a careless attitude that they decide to neglect all their responsibilities. This may have a negative effect on the relationship between the teachers and the children thus they do not deliver their services as required, children may also develop some negative attitudes towards the teachers and may not concentrate on their services or may not appreciate them (Taylor, 2000). According to the reports of the research work carried by most of the specialists, parents’ involvement is associated with higher performance of the students. Each of the parties in education is important and has a role to play in the development and progress of the child. The behaviour of young people is highly determined by the way they are brought up and rules and regulations governing their families. The parents with special understanding of the personalities of their children mostly act as a backup for the information passed by the teachers. For example, the parents are keen to ensure that the children complete their homework and spend their free time wisely, for instance they ensure that they watch good television programmes or are involved in the social activities which are of benefit to the development of the psychology of the children. The parents are required to form an organization or association with the teachers that they may be able to formulate or agree on the ways of improving the performance of their children and assign various duties to those concerned hence they work as a team for the achievement of the set goals and objectives. Parents are mostly to be blamed in case their children do not act as per the expectations or regulations set out. (Wheeler et al, 2009). Wendy et al., 1997, argues that there are three conceptualized dimensions of parental involvement which is based on how the interaction of the parents, teachers and students and their effects in the motivation and schooling of the students. The behaviour involvement of parents refers to the public conduct of the parents portraying their interests in the academic performance of their children. This can be through attending the parental meetings in school which discusses the performance and progression of the school and actively participating in these meetings for the implementation of the set standards. The personal involvement of the parent includes the interaction of a child and his parent pertaining to issues relating to the school and the performance of the child. The parent communicates some positive attitudes concerning the school and its activities especially the importance of education to the life of the child. The intellectual or cognitive involvement refers to the activities such as visiting museums and public libraries which promote the skills which the child learns in class and also keeps them engaged after school. Most of these programmes are encouraged by the parents who are also required to sacrifice their time to accompany their children to these places or make arrangement. Therefore parental involvement has positive effects in the academic performance of the students because their interaction influences the motivation of the students to work very hard with cooperation for the achievement of their long term and short term assisting them in achieving their academic prosperity (Wheeler et al, 2009). Parental involvement therefore means considering home based activities like helping in home work, encouraging to work hard, discussing school events and providing all the essential materials of learning. The parent can also consider the school based activities like attending and participating in the school events and occasionally volunteering in school. When the children realise that their parents are also concerned about their performance in school, their confidence is increased hence they are able to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge. Most children, especially in primary schools are afraid of failing with the fear of disappointing their parents and teachers; children who perform very well know that everyone around them is eager to know their performance. They actively participate in class so as to please their teachers and are happy to share their success with their parents but those whose parents are not concerned will not mind about their performance; after all they assume that no one is concerned (Smart, 2010).. Both the school and parents have critical roles to play in the education of children and the effects are greater when the parents and the school personnel work together as a team. This depends on the level of education and the understanding of the parents. The involvement of the parents at the secondary school level has positive effects on the continued development. The parents should be aware of all the activities concerning their children’s progress. Teenagers in secondary schools need the most parental guidance because they are highly interact with others and are likely to be affected by peer influence hence make decisions which are likely to have negative effects on their performance (Wolfendale, 2008). Effects of home learning on children’s achievement Majority of parents are keen on their involvement in the education of their children until they reach their highest levels. Research shows that the number of British parents who spend free time reading and doing homework with their children has increased more than four times over the last thirty five years (University Microfilms New York, 2002). This has improved the performance of children compared to those others whose parents are not concerned and cannot account for the free time. To support this research was carried out to study the performance of two groups of children. One group consisted of a number of children who were helped by their parents to read at home as well as doing their homework. Their results were analysed and compared to those of the others whose parents did not bother. Another variable was also introduced of the children who did not receive any parental guidance but were offered tuition by some other qualified teachers but not the ones in school. The outcome showed that there was a noticeable improvement of the performance of the children who were having home learning programmes greater than those having private tuition (Jeynes, 2010). The parents who were involved in the home learning together with their children expressed great satisfaction because they were able to understand more about their children hence could easily discuss ways of making their performance more perfect. The teachers of these children reported that the children whose parents showed some involvement were having an easy time in school and portrayed increased keenness in the learning activities as well as being well behaved (Taylor, 2000). The collaboration between parents, children and teachers is effective for the performance of the children at all levels of education. The children feel motivated that their parents are concerned about their performance and the teachers also work very hard to offer the best. These parents are able to determine the other co-curriculum activities which are required to improve the knowledge and the skills that their children learn in school (Noleen and Lemmer, 2008). How parent’s involvement affects the performance of the children According to the work of most researchers like professor Charles Desforges and Alberto Abouchaar, the best considered forecaster of the academic performance of the children is the expectations of the parents. As the teachers of the basic skills such as eating habits and first language, parents are able to keenly gauge the abilities and disabilities of their children. Griffith and Ruan (2008) note that they also have a great role to play in determining the attitudes of the children towards most of the things they come across and their general behaviour and respect for others. Well behaved or disciplined children always perform better than the others because they are able to relate with the others including the teachers and also effectively express their feelings. There are many ways through which different personalised parents can involve themselves in the learning processes of their children and help them succeed (Griffith and Ruan, 2008). Volunteering in classroom is one of the factors which are commonly considered by most of the education personnel as a way of parental involvement. This is not only beneficial to the teachers but also improves the competence of the learners after realising that the parents are concerned about what their children do in class. Although most of the parents spend most of their day time and even some nights doing commercial activities they do not have enough time to be with their children. If not careful this might have negative effects on the school performance of the children because these children feel neglected by those close to them but those whose parents are concerned will work hard at least to please their parents if not themselves (Moon et al, 2004). Parents also come in to boost extra-curricular activities. The success of some of these activities can only be achieved with the involvement of the parents especially financially and in attendance. During the holidays and free time, especially after work, the parents can take their children on extra-curricular activities thus providing a good opportunity for the parents to be close with their children and are able to share with their children regarding important issues in education, for example, the choice of career and ways of setting long term and short term goals and objectives for effective achievement of the goal of the entire learning process (Cyster et al, 2008). Parents can also engage in the Parents and Teachers Organizations or Associations (PTO or PTA) which offers education programmes to all the parties involved in the education process for example, parents, teachers, fundraisers, suppliers and others like donors. All are required to come together to boost the achievement of the learning goals and objectives (Schneider & Coleman, 2006). Communication is another important factor, parents and students work together side by side and with professions in the learning field so as to discuss the necessary learning procedures. This is possible through the parent teacher organizations, the teachers and parents come together and fully understand each other. Many of the parents are working in other professions different from teaching and education thus may be having information which can be of help in the career selection by the students. The teachers should make sure that they organize conferences or annual general meetings in which various parents will have a forum sharing their views on the improvement of the learning process of the students. The teachers can also encourage the participation of the parents by sending folders containing the evaluation of the learning processes on the weekly or monthly basis and recommend the parents to give their views after analysing them (Brink and Chandler, 1993). Voluntary work though not liked by most of the people in the current society is also a way of parent involvement. These programmes organise volunteers and audiences to support the operations of the schools and students, these are particularly the help and support group which enables the parents to keep updated on the most recent activities in the learning institutions thus they can be able to support their students. Volunteers come up to give the parents an insight of what is expected of them to help in the improvement of the academic performance of their children (Wendy et al., 1997). Learning at home is another way of involvement and the most convenient because it takes place anytime the parents are free or the family can make arrangement on how to undertake their other chores for the sake of creating time for the home learning programme. These parents should be aware of what is expected of the children in school so as to ensure they do not beyond the syllabus. It is expected that the teachers of young children especially those at the foundation level should be issue a calendar listing the topics that certain class of pupils should be taught. The parents should also consider the homework manuals given by the teachers to avoid contradicting the information taught in class (Smart, 2010). Parents can also be involved in the education of their children through decision making; they boost the implementation of the decision made by the education personnel. For example, if the school wants to introduce some services like coaching to improve the performance of the students, they should involve the parents in the decision that they will know that their children are attending coaching after school hence offer any necessary support like finances for the facilities, services and so on (Cyster et al, 2008). For effective achievement of the goals and objectives set by any school, there should a good relationship or collaboration with the external environment or society. This is because the learners may also require some of the resources in the society. For example, the hospitals, the parents are concern about the location of the school and the external environment to ensure that health facilities are available for their children. Others like water resources are also considered to ensure smooth running of the education program (Baker & Wiseman, 2006). The above steps on the involvement of the parents in the learning of their children depend on the levels of the learning process. Most of the parents may not be able to help their children who are in secondary schools and other higher learning institutions with their homework. These students will be left to it on their own unless their parents are either higher school teachers or pursued the same career. The parents can however get involved by providing a good learning environment which is maybe free from noise and so on or providing the learning materials such as stationery and other facilities like space and tables. They can also give advice to their children on how they are expected to behave in the learning institutions and relate with others for effective achievement of their goals and objectives (Schneider & Coleman, 2006). The more the parent get involved with the teacher of his or her child, the curriculum of the school and the administration, the better the parent feels about its activities and is willing to be associated with it. He or she will have a sense of pride with the school and the society and is willing to participate in all the activities thus they easily understand the educational process and can be of help to their child in making any decisions pertaining the improvement of the performance. The parent and the school or the education personnel become partners hence become of common benefit to the learners especially when sharing their difficulties. The parents are the major sponsors of the operations of the schools both financially and other bond matters. The more the parents are involved in the operations of the schools of their children, the more they become of help to the improvement of the performance of the students; the parent can also improve his parenting styles (Desforges, 2003). Conclusion Parental involvement is having the parents concerned about the operations and activities which take place in the process of learning of their children. This is done with the intention of improving the academic performance of the child and that of the entire school. There are many ways through which the parents can be involved in the learning processes of their children depending on their abilities and understanding of the parent. Changes in the style of living have brought about changes in the way the parents can get involved in the learning processes of their children depending on the level of education. Mainly parents seem less concerned about the children who are in secondary schools and other learning institutions like university this is because they assume that they are old enough to make wise decisions concerning their goals in life or the parents may assume that their advice is not necessary in the rapid changing lifestyles. The parents are the first teachers of the children thus have a significant role in determining their attitudes towards various activities in life. They also have a chance of realising the abilities and disabilities of the children at early stages thus they help them in realising their dreams and attaining them. Bibliography Card, D., 2001, Estimating the return to schooling: progress on some persistent econometric problems, North Holland, Econometrical studies. Hornby, G., 2000, Improving Parental Involvement, New York, Continuum International Publishing Group. Jeynes, W., 2010, Parental Involvement and Academic, London, Taylor & Francis Noleen, W. & Lemmer, E., 2008, Organising Parent Involvement in SA Schools, Juta, Juta and Company Ltd. Taylor, G., 2000, Parental involvement: a practical guide for collaboration and teamwork for students with disabilities, Virginia, C.C. Thomas. Topping, K. & Wolfendale, S., 2010, Parental involvement in children's reading, California, Croom Helm. University Microfilms, 2002, Dissertation abstracts international: The humanities and social sciences, New York, University Microfilms International. Wendy G., Corina B., Kurowski, C. & Apostoleris, N., 1997, Predictors of Parent Involvement in Children's Schooling." Journal of Educational Psychology 89:538–548. Wolfendale, S., 2008, Parental involvement: developing networks between school, home and community, Michigan, Cassell. Griffith, P. & Ruan, J., 2008, Literacy for Young Children: A Guide for Early Childhood Educators, California, Corwin Press. Cyster, R., Clift, P. & Battle, S., 2008, Parental involvement in primary schools, Michigan, NFER. Brink, C., & Chandler, K., 1993, Teach the parent; reach the child. Vocational Education Journal, 68(4), 26-28. Smart, J., 2010, Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research: Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, (25) 3, 345-356. Baker, D. & Wiseman, A., 2006, The impact of comparative education research on institutional theory: Volume 7 of International perspectives on education and society, (7)2, 276-286. Schneider, B. & Coleman, J., 2006, Parents, Their Children, And Schools, New York, Westview Press. Desforges, C., 2003, The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievement and Adjustment. Research Report 433 Wheeler, H., Connor, J. & Goodwin, H., 2009, Parents, Early Years and Learning: Parents as Partners in the Early Years Foundation Stage - Principles Into Practice, London, NCB, Moon, B. & Mayes, A., 2004, Teaching and learning in the secondary school, New York, Routledge. Read More