Parental involvement in education : a comparison between a privileged and underprivileged school.
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Date
2014
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Abstract
This study compared parental involvement in privileged and underprivileged schools in
Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal. The objectives of the study were to determine what are the
similarities and differences in parental involvement between privileged and underprivileged
schools and why they do exist. The theory guiding the study was Epstein’s Theory of
Overlapping Spheres. The study followed a qualitative research approach and operated within
an interpretivist paradigm. A multiple case design was used. The studied schools were drawn
from two contexts, privileged and underprivileged, both located in Phoenix. The
methodology employed to generate data was a semi-structured interview, followed by an
open-ended questionnaire that was given to participants. The sample of participants
comprised of three parents and three teachers from each of the two schools. The data were
analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that there are parents from both
privileged and underprivileged communities who are concerned and employ a variety of
strategies to get involved in their children’s education, both academically and socially.
Although parents from both schools participate in school events the levels of their
participation differs, with the parents from the privileged schools being more involved than
parents from the underprivileged school. Parental involvement is influenced by many
ecological factors which may enable or constrain parental involvement in schools. The
factors that enable parental involvement are: parents’ roles and responsibilities, parents’
aspirations and expectations, the nature and adequacy of communication and school
leadership and support. The results show that there are a diversity of factors that hamper
parental involvement in education such as the working conditions of parents, being a single
parent, the absence of parents, socio-economic factors and the school leadership. This study
shows that despite it being low, parents in both privileged and underprivileged schools do
display involvement and the factors which enable and constrain their involvement must be
taken into account. Parental involvement thus cannot be considered a universal context, as
each context varies.
Description
M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2014.
Keywords
Education--Parent participation--South Africa--KwaZulu-Natal., Home and school--South Africa--KwaZulu-Natal., Academic achievement--Social aspects., Theses--Education.