Since the advent of democracy in 1994, social changes in South Africa have impacted on schools. In the past, parent involvement in the township schools was viewed as unimportant. However, with the change to a democratic South Africa, parents as critical stakeholders were put under tremendous pressure to get involved in the education of their children. The role that parents are expected to play in education has grown immensely and has been receiving greater interest. The South African Schools Act (Act no. 84 of 1996) makes provision for parents‟ participation in the activities of the schools. The underlying principle is to ensure that parents are actively involved in the governance and management of schools with a view to create a conducive environment for a better teaching and learning. According to Bloch (2009:22) the more parents are involved in their children‟s schooling the better their children‟s academic achievements, the more confident their attitudes to schooling and the lower the drop-out rate. However, the parents in the township schools in South Africa have dismally failed to live up to these expectations. Almost 80% of dysfunctional schools in South Africa are predominantly located in the townships (Smit & Oosthuizen, 2011:64). These schools are ineffective and inefficient; and lack of parental involvement has been cited as a key reason for the decline of academic achievement. Efforts to improve the culture of teaching and learning in these schools have failed. In this study, the extent to which parents in the township schools are involved in the education of their children is interrogated as the focus area. Similarly, the objective of this study is to investigate and evaluate the factors that influence or inhibit parents‟ participation in the education of their children in the township schools. The study confined itself to three secondary schools in Ekurhuleni North district and used both educators and parents as its sample. The sample was purposefully selected. A mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative approaches was used for this study. The data presented in this study are mainly derived from the responses to the ninety questionnaires that were distributed to educators as well as the responses of the six parents from the interviews with them. In this study, the ethical considerations of the research as espoused by Merriam (1998:198) were adhered to. This study v stems from the necessity to contribute to the scholarly debate on the involvement of parents in education as it seeks to determine the factors which hamper parental involvement in the education process of the learners in the township schools; and to suggest possible solutions to eliminate them wherever feasible. The reluctance of parents to participate in the education of their children in the township schools remains a mystery which needs to be unravelled. This is the basic premise of this research. The researcher further hopes that when the Findings and the Recommendations of this study are completed, they will be able to add value to the education system in the township schools by conscientising parents about their full role in the governance of the schools as mandated by legislation. / Department of Educational Leadership and Management / M.Ed. (Education Management))

Parental involvement in education is not a new concept; parents have always been involved in education in various ways and to various degrees. Perhaps nowr parents are more sensitive to the important role it plays in ensuring the full potential of the child is realised. Departing from the premise, that it is important, useful and necessary, the researcher has embarked upon an in depth literature study of parental involvement in education in various communities and has undertaken an empirical investigation of the involvement of parents of pupils in secondary schools in the Phoenix North area. The main thrust of this research was to explore the obstacles to parents being involved fully in the education of their children and to make appropriate recommendations to the principals, as the school managers. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Educational Management)

This research is undertaken in Vhembe region in Limpopo Province. Many researchers, on the subject of ‘parent involvement’, have conducted in-depth research; this means parental involvement is not a new term. According to St John and Griffith (1997:48-52), there are important benefits that teachers, learners and parents derive from parents’ participation in school programmes and activities such as healthy communication, generation of interest and building positive self-esteem and confidence, to mention but a few while their children attending school during pre-primary, primary and secondary level. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether parents in Vhembe District involved themselves in the education of their children. The population of a study included three schools in Vhembe, six parents from each sampled schools, six teachers from sampled schools and each principal from sampled schools. The purposeful sampling technique was used to select the participants. The findings are briefly that: -Few parents indicated their appreciation of parental involvement by suggesting ways in which they could become involved, it was clear that a developmental programme should be introduced to motivate parental involvement; -It also came to the attention of the researcher that most of the parents did not attend school meetings because of lack of proper communication; -Parents were silent about the monitoring and supervision of their children’s work while they are at home, which can result in better academic performance. Parents should have high expectations for their children’s future and academic achievement. -It emerged from the interviews that many factors present barriers to parental involvement; like parents’ limited education, economic status, lack of a school policy, poor communication and teachers’ attitude towards parents. Recommendations -From the conclusions drawn above, it is recommended that parental involvement workshops be organised for school managers, school teachers and parents. -To improve parents’ attendance of school meetings, teachers should provide them with an opportunity to communicate their expectations and concerns. -In relation to parents’ role in their children’s education, parents should be motivated to ensure that their children accomplish their goals. -Parents should be empowered with skills of self-confidence, so that they will realise that their children have potential. -Schools should encourage parents to play an important role as partners in their children’s education. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Educational Management)

The study sought to investigate factors that lead to low parental involvement in rural and farm schools in the Madibeng area. The qualitative research method was used for the study and the interviews were used to collect data from the participants, particularly in-depth interviews and focus group interviews. The study discovered that the majority of teachers and parents did not know what parent involvement was; and it was also discovered that low parental involvement bears a negative effect on learners’ performance, learners’ discipline, cleaning campaign, fundraising, teachers moral, functionality of School Governing bodies and the effectiveness of the Quality of learning and teaching Campaign. As a result of the findings the study recommended measures to curb low parental involvement in schools around the Madibeng Area. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007. / Educators often lament the lack of parental involvement necessary to support effective schooling. Since schools are primarily funded by the state and, in most cases, governed by the parents, questions arise regarding the parental support that schools need and the expectations educators have of such parental involvement. Legislation, as contained in the South African Schools Act, 1996, stipulates the parameters of parental involvement and authority in the governance of the school and the national Department of Education encourages close cooperation between parents and schools. This dissertation explores the questions surrounding parental involvement as it pertains to the expectations of the educators. The dissension expressed by educators demand an investigation into the functionality of the mutual support structures. In an attempt to remedy any existent discord that may exist between the educators and parents, it is necessary to glean responses directly from the educators to ascertain their perceptions of parental involvement. To elicit feedback from the educators, a questionnaire was used with both closed questions and questions which allowed for open/written responses. The questionnaire design allowed information collection to address educator needs, educator wants and what educators are currently getting from the parents as far as support and involvement is concerned. Educator expectations of the most basic and necessary involvement from the parents was weighed up with their expectations of parental involvement in a healthy educator/parent relationship and balanced against actual and current involvement and support offered and given by the parents. Educators of all three schools indicated that communication ranks as the first priority to improve parental involvement in the schools. Schools that are committed to improve or encourage parental involvement first seek to improve the parent-educator relationships. The areas most in need of parental support are the teaching of discipline and social skills at home and the encouragement of learners to excel, parental aid at fundraising drives and homework supervision. These findings support Cherian's view that parental support of the educator is served by parental interest in the learner's education which includes offers of help to learners who bring home school work (Cherian, 1991 :938).

The purpose of this study was to investigate and document parental involvement in a San community in Namibia over a period of two months. The emphasis was to investigate whether San parents in the Omusati region were involved in the learning of mathematics of their children. The learner participants were selected according to those who were open to sharing their ideas. An interpretive approach was used to collect and analyse data. The collected data was gathered from 9 participants (4 learners in grade 5 together with their parents, plus their mathematics teacher). Semi-structured interviews, parental contributions and home visit observations were the three tools that I used to collect data. The selected school is located in a rural area in the Omusati region of northern Namibia. The interviews were conducted in Oshiwambo (the participants‟ mother tongue) and translated into English and then analyzed. I discovered that the selected San parents were involved in some but limited school activities. The findings of this study emphasizes that illiteracy may be one of the contributing factors of low or non-involvement of parents among the San community. Other factors which I found caused parents not to assist their children with homework was parents spending much of their time at the local cuca shops during the day until late in the evenings. The study also highlights possible strategies that can be carried out by teachers to encourage parental involvement in school activities.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:08:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_elizabeth_regina.pdf: 2507419 bytes, checksum: 88255a46f3baceefefd0d29f99c3ae2e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-12-29 / The motivation to carry through to present research elapses of the necessity of one better understanding on the accomplishment between the Family and the School, in what it says respect to the establishment of limits to the child. During much time, acting in a private institution of education, it of many conflicts between parents was observed existence and professors when the subject in focus is discipline. This implies that the parent argue, with the biggest naturalness, who do not know than procedure more to accept to discipline its. children and professors, in the majority of the times, they do not know what to make or that attitude to take when seeing a pupil agitating in the classroom. Succeeding the told fidgets previously, the necessity increased to investigate the conception that the parents and the professors have concerning the limits that could be applied the children, especially succeeding its inadequate behaviors. In this direction, a qualitative research was carried through, with 15 educators (being five professors, five mothers and five fathers) that had its children or pupils registered the basic education of private schools regularly. Because of the carried through interviews, was possible to observe the difficulty that the parents and professors come feeling when the subject in guideline discipline. On the other hand, a convergence concerning the conception of limits is noticed, as well as of the repercussions that its lack of limits can cause. The influence of the conceptions a sort can also be evidenced, of the media and of the pressures to which they are submitted in the current society. The parents bring absorbed by the work and other concerns of day-by-day; the professors bring obliged to treat the pupils as customers, had the competitiveness between the private schools that they need the complaining pupils and of the lack of domestic education give credit that this research can offer a contribution to the studious professional and interested in the subjects family and school. It is had certainty of that it is not conclusive, and still will have very what to search and to learn it enters the complexity of the subject, its extension and the importance of the current days / A motivação para realizar a presente pesquisa decorre da necessidade de uma melhor compreensão sobre a relação entre a Família e a Escola, no que diz respeito ao estabelecimento de limites à criança. Os limites aqui estão sendo tomados como sinônimo de disciplina. Durante muito tempo, atuando em uma instituição particular de ensino, observou-se a existência de muitos conflitos entre pais e professores quando o tema em foco é disciplina. Isso implica que os pais argumentam, com a maior naturalidade, que não sabem mais que procedimentos adotar para disciplinar seus filhos e os professores, na maioria das vezes, não sabem o que fazer ou que atitude tomar ao verem um aluno agitando na sala-deaula. Em decorrência das inquietações relatadas anteriormente, cresceu a necessidade de investigar a concepção que os pais e os professores têm acerca dos limites que poderão ser aplicados às crianças, especialmente em decorrência de seus comportamentos inadequados. Nesse sentido, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa, com 15 educadores (sendo cinco professores, cinco mães e cinco pais) que tinham seus filhos ou alunos matriculados regularmente no Ensino Fundamental-I de escolas particulares. Através das entrevistas realizadas, foi possível observar a dificuldade que os pais e os professores vêm sentindo quando o tema em pauta é disciplina. Por outro lado, nota-se uma convergência acerca da concepção de limites, bem como das repercussões que sua falta pode acarretar. Pode-se também constatar a influência das concepções de gênero, da mídia e das pressões às quais as pessoas são submetidas na sociedade atual: os pais sendo absorvidos pelo trabalho e outras preocupações do dia-a-dia; os professores sendo obrigados a tratar os alunos como clientes, devido à competitividade entre as escolas particulares, que precisam dos alunos, e queixosos da falta de sua educação doméstica. Acredita-se que esta pesquisa possa oferecer uma contribuição aos profissionais e estudiosos interessados nos temas família e escola. Tem-se a certeza de que ela não é conclusiva e ainda haverá muito que pesquisar e aprender ante a complexidade do assunto, sua abrangência e importância nos dias atuais

The purpose of this project is to develop a way of communication between school and parents. It aims to help parents to be more involved in their children's education. One of the main aspects and focus of this project is the analysis of the use of streaming video.

In this qualitative investigation, the ways in which four ethnically diverse mothers' perceptions of early childhood education combined with the school experiences of their children were examined. Research tools included audiotaped interviews with Mexican-American, Korean-American, African-American, and Anglo mothers; videotaped school experiences; and a video message with a viewing guide requesting written reaction.

Text in Afrikaans / The aim of this study was to identify and describe the components of a parent support program for the parent of children with mental retardation in the ELSENunits of Parow Preparatory School. This study is the first step in compiling a parent support program for full service schools, since it can be utilise in the establishment of such a program. This study does not address composition of such a parent support program. A qualitative approach was used. Empirical data was gathered through the use of focus groups consisting of 28 parents of children in the ELSEN-unit of Parow Preparatory school. An interview scedule consisting of semi-structured questions were used during the focus groups. Themes were identified and dealt with in accordance with relevant existing literature and literature control. Conclusions and recommendations were made in connection with the components of a parent support program for the parent of children in the ELSEN-units of Parow Preparatory School . / Social Work / M.Ed. (Kurrikulumstudies)