published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Lack of parental involvement is one of the biggest challenges schools face. Due to lack of support or too much interference from the parent the academic learning process of the student is disturbed and delayed. This also puts a lot of stress on the teacher trying to support the student in achieving to the best of his or her abilities as well as managing the parents on the side. The purpose of this study was to investigate how 1) different parenting styles deliver different results and if that implies that there exists a more effective parenting style when it comes to school performance, 2) if we could make any correlations between school behaviour, motivation, results and how parents approach their children at home, and 3) to further explore how parenting style affects the academic performance of students in a local Hong Kong kindergarten. Therefore the aim was to explain the relationship between parenting styles, goal orientation and academic achievement in an Early Years Hong Kong school setting. This study identified the parenting styles prevalent in the kindergarten and explored which of the four parenting styles from Baumrind (1971) and Chao (1994) are being used by the kindergarten parents. It continued by identifying the academic achievement prevalent amoung the students and correlating it with their parent’s parenting style. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used throughout this study. A group of 60 Kindergarten students were monitored through observation for a period of 6 months in order to track their academic achievement. A survey was sent home and completed by the 60 parents of these students collecting information on parenting style and socio-economic information. Finally both findings were correlated and significant similarities and connections were identified between both parenting style and academic achievement. The study found strong correlations between parenting styles and the performance of students in school especially concerning authoritative, authoritarian and training parenting styles. The results indicated students from authoritative parenting background scored significantly higher in academic achievement while students from authoritative and training background had low performance. There was no significant correlation found between goal orientation and parenting style or academic achievement. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Drawing from cultural and social reproduction theory, this research studied the relationship between social class and parental involvement in education in modern China. The study paid particular attention to parents' educational background, professional occupation and socio-economic status, and how these factors contribute to their expectation and involvement in education. The research was an attempt to explore the importance of cultural and social capital in Chinese families, which has a decisive impact on children's educational experience. It also examined how class status were maintained and perpetuated from one generation to the next through parents' role in schooling, and through China's dual track school system. / A key school and a non-key school in Shanghai were chosen for the study. Forty eight families, including children and parents, participated in this research. Data collection was completed through interviews and observations. Interview protocols were prepared and used for parents and students respectively. / The findings of the research indicate that parental expectation is closely related with parents' educational level, while parental involvement in education is determined by more than one factor, and parent's socio-economic status is the most important.

No description available.

Chinese parental involvement in children‘s learning has been regarded as one of the key factors in accounting for their children‘s superior academic success. Chinese cultural ideologies which highlight the value of learning and parents‘heightened role in children‘s learning may shape Chinese parental involvement. The first goal of the current research was to understand Chinese parental involvement by developing a scale. The second goal was to examine the factors which influenced Chinese parental involvement. Four parental beliefs were tested: parental self-efficacy for helping the child succeed in school, parental value of academic success, parental educational aspiration and expectation for child and parental role belief in children‘s learning in children‘s learning. Children‘s academic performance was also tested as antecedent. Third, the study attempted to examine the effects of Chinese parental involvement on children‘s academic (i.e., children‘s motivational outcomes and academic achievement) and emotional functioning (i.e., life satisfaction). / A total of 323 7th graders and one of their parents participated. Children reported the involvement of their participating parents, as well as their motivational outcomes (i.e., children‘s value of academic success, relative autonomy in pursing academics, self-regulated learning strategies) and life satisfaction at Time 1 and Time 2(abbreviation for T1 and T2, 6 months apart); and children‘s grades were obtained from school records. Parents reported on their involvement in children‘s learning as well as parental beliefs in children‘s learning at T1. / The current research found that Chinese parental involvement not only included teacher initiated school-based involvement, help with schoolwork, cognitive-intellectual involvement, academic socialization regarding current learning, academic socialization regarding future academic goals which have been identified in Western countries, but also included parent initiated school-based involvement, providing a good environment, setting family rules, extra learning, reinforcement/punishment which were also important in Chinese context but have been neglected in previous work. Both parental beliefs and children‘s academic performance were related to Chinese parental involvement. Specifically, four parental beliefs differed in their contributions to various types of involvement. Children‘s academic achievement at T1 positively predicted child-reported parental help with schoolwork and providing a good environment but negatively predicted reinforcement/punishment at T2. Concurrent results (T1) demonstrated that child-reported parental involvement was significantly related to children‘s academic and emotional functioning with the effects varying by types of parental involvement. Specifically, child-reported parental academic socialization regarding current learning was positively associated with children‘s motivational outcomes. However, parental reinforcement/punishment was negatively associated with relative autonomy. Parental providing a good environment positively correlated with children‘s life satisfaction but was not related to children‘s academic outcomes. / Taken together, the study underscores the importance of studying various types of parental involvement practices in understanding Chinese parental involvement. Findings of the current study also highlight the role of parental beliefs and children‘s academic performance in parental involvement. / 中國的家長參與子女學業是造就中國學生優異成績的重要因素之一。中國文化重視學習以及家長在孩子學習中的作用，這些文化觀念會塑造中國家長參與的特點。西方的關於家長參與的理論框架可能不足以讓我們理解中國的家長參與。因此，本研究的第一個目的在於通過編制中國家長參與量表來研究中國家長參與的結構。第二個目的是探討中國家長參與的影響因素：家長的信念以及子女的學業成績。基於信念指導行為的假設，探討了家長的信念包括家長對於輔導子女學業的效能感、家長對學業的價值、家長對子女的期望以及家長對自己參與子女學業的角色建構對家長參與子女學業的影響。此外，基於家長社會化的互動模型，探討了孩子的學業成績對家長參與的影響。研究目的三則探討了家長參與對子女學業和情緒發展的影響，主要關注了家長參與對子女的學習動機、成績以及生活滿意度。 / 323名7年級學生及其家長參加了本次研究。調查分兩次進行，間隔六個月。家長只參加第一次調查，家長報告他們參與子女學業程度以及家長的信念。小孩則在兩次調查中報告他們家長的參與程度、學習動機以及生活滿意度。 / 結果表明，中國的家長參與包括了十個維度: 教師發起的基於學校的參與、輔導功課、認知-智力參與、關於當前學業的社會化、關於未來學習目標的社會化、家長發起的基於學校的參與、提供良好環境、設定家庭規則、課外輔導、強化/懲罰。家長的信念和孩子的學業成績影響家長參與的程度。具體來說，這四種家長的信念對家長參與的不同類型影響不同。孩子的成績正向預測了半年後孩子報告的家長的輔導功課、提供良好環境的程度，負向預測了家長的強化/懲罰。橫向調查的結果發現孩子報告的家長參與與孩子的學業相關，但是這種關係因不同類型的家長參與而異。 / 本研究表明了探討不同類型的中國的家長參與子女學業的重要性。本研究也表明家長的信念以及孩子的學業成績對家長參與的程度的影響。 / Wu, Nini. / Thesis Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-124). / Abstracts also in Chinese; appendix includes Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 12, October, 2016). / Wu, Nini. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

 Much of the research on parental involvement in education has focused on its positive influence on school-aged students in the western culture. This thesis examined Chinese parental involvement in the early years by conducting three empirical studies in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Study 1 was designed to be qualitative in nature to examine kindergarten teachers’ and parents’ perceptions and practices of parental involvement by conducting focus group interviews with 35 teachers and 41 parents. Responses revealed that teachers and parents defined parental involvement differently, in which teachers defined it as parents assisting the teachers or the school, while parents defined it as the support they provide for their child’s learning and development. Respondents also had varying opinions about the current parental involvement practices and discussed different family, school and child factors that influence parental involvement. Study 2 investigated the association between parental involvement and children’s readiness for school using a sample of 431 children. Parents’ involvement was examined using parents’ self-report, whereas readiness for school was assessed using two child tests and parents’ report. Results indicated that parents practiced more home-based involvement than school-based involvement. All parental involvement dimensions significantly predicted overall readiness for school; however, only the dimensions of Language and Cognitive Activities and Home-School Conferencing were found the significantly predictors of children’s Chinese literacy and cognitive development. Study 3 was a follow-up investigation of the changes in parents’ perceptions and practices of parental involvement during the transition from kindergarten to primary school. Individual interviews were conducted with 18 parents three months after their child’s school entrance. Compared to their involvement during the kindergarten years, most parents indicated a shift to become more academic oriented in their involvement and expressed their dissatisfaction in the distant parent-teacher relationship in the primary school. Implications, limitations and future research directions on this topic are discussed. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education