This study was aimed at finding relationships between the triad of academic achievement, child's perception of parental attitude, and his problem awareness. The study was designed with reference to three postulates of phenomenological psychology. (a) The perceptual field of an individual at any moment determines his behavior of the moment. (b) The term phenomenal self is formed by the individual's interaction with others. (c) The basic need of the organism is the maintenance and actualization of the self. A survey of the literature tended to support the thesis that there was a positive relationship between educational achievement and parental acceptance. On the other hand, research in this area also contained some evidence showing that parents of achieving children tended to adopt power assertive techniques of child rearing. Sixty achievers and sixty underachievers of both sexes were administered the Father and Mother form of the Parent-Child Relationship Questionnaire and the Mooney Problem Check List and their relationships were noticed. The results showed that the scales on the Mooney Problem Check List distinguished the underachieving and achieving boy but not the under achieving and achieving girl, except the School scale. The only scales which significantly differentiated the underachiever from the achiever for both boys and girls on both the forms were Punishment Direct-Object and Loving. The study did not reveal any significant relationship between the scales on the two forms of PCRQ and MPCL.

SAMMANFATTNING Syfte: Att studera föräldrars upplevelse av att kunna tolka sitt barns behov och mående samt upplevda kompetens i föräldrarollen efter att barnet har vårdats på neonatalavdelning. Metod: En jämförande kvantitativ studie med deskriptiv explorativ design som är en del av ett större projekt som genomförts vid två neonatalavdelningar i Sverige. En vecka efter barnets utskrivning från neonatalavdelningen samt vid två månaders korrigerad ålder fick barnets mamma och pappa varsin enkät, innehållande bland annat en föräldra-attitydskala, hemskickad. Insamlade data matades in i Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) och redovisades med deskriptiv (md; median och range; minimum och maximum) och jämförande statistik (Chi-2-test och Mann-Whitney U-test). Resultat: En enda signifikant skillnad kunde ses mellan de två neonatalavdelningarna och det gällde föräldrarnas upplevelse att barnet tyckte om kontakt från dem i form av deras doft. På neonatalavdelning 2 svarade föräldrarna i högre grad att detta påstående stämde en vecka efter barnets utskrivning från neonatalavdelningen. Inga andra signifikanta skillnader ses vid jämförelsen av föräldrarnas enkätsvar från de två neonatalavdelningarna. Slutsats: Den enda signifikant skillnad som kunde ses anses av flera orsaker inte vara av särskilt hög betydelse. Följaktligen kan inga väsentliga skillnader ses mellan föräldrarnas upplevelse av sitt barns behov och mående samt upplevda kompetens i föräldrarollen beroende på om barnet vårdats på en neonatalavdelning där föräldrarna fick bo med sitt barn under hela vårdtiden och tidigt involveras i sitt barns vård eller om barnets vårdats på en neonatalavdelning med mindre föräldranärvaro. / ABSTRACT Aim: Studying parents' experience of being able to interpret their child's needs and well-being, and perceived competence in parenting after the child has been cared for in the neonatal unit. Method: A comparative quantitative study with a descriptive exploratory design that is part of a larger project conducted at two neonatal units in Sweden. A week after the child's discharge from the neonatal unit and at two months' corrected age, the child’s mother and father received a questionnaire sent to their home, containing among other things a parental attitude scale. Collected data were fed into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and presented with descriptive (md; median and range; minimum and maximum) and comparative statistics (Chi-2 test and Mann-Whitney U test). Results: Only one significant difference was seen between the two neonatal wards and it was regarding the parents' experience that the child enjoyed contact from them in terms of their fragrance. In the neonatal unit 2 parents agreed to a greater extent that this claim was true a week after the child's discharge from the neonatal unit. No other significant differences were seen when comparing the parents' questionnaire responses from the two neonatal wards. Conclusion: The only significant difference that was found was for several reasons not considered to be of very high importance. Consequently, no significant differences was found between the parents perception of their child's needs and well-being, and perceived competence in the parental role, depending on whether the child received care in a neonatal unit where the parents were allowed to stay with their child throughout the whole hospital stay and early get involved in their child's care or if the child was admitted to a neonatal unit with less opportunity for parental presence.

Parental involvement (PI) greatly benefits learners of all ages. The implementation of a PI programme would provide an effective and affordable means to address the needs of learners in Swaziland. The purpose of this study was to develop a PI programme for urban primary education in Swaziland. The literature revealed that while comprehensive PI programmes are most effective, PI in learning activities in the home and an appropriate parenting style are particularly beneficial and correlate more closely with learning success than family background factors. Nevertheless, a relationship between family background factors and PI exists. Furthermore there are numerous barriers to PI. However, the most important determinant of PI is the effort of teachers to involve parents. PI is particularly important at senior primary level, the level at which PI drops off spontaneously. In order to gain a more complete understanding of PI in this community, which would form the basis for an effective PI programme, a combined quantitative and qualitative approach was undertaken. A parental questionnaire was used to test quantitatively the affects of family background factors on three measures of PI and to determine the ways in which parents were involved, their attitudes to the schools, and the schools' efforts to involve them. Teacher and parent interviews and focus discussions were conducted following a qualitative ethnographic approach. The integrated quantitative and qualitative findings revealed a low level of PI. As a result of a lack of relevant policy, Swazi teachers had very little understanding of PI or their role in establishing it. Thus, schools generally practiced Swap's Protective Model such that parents had very few opportunities, and little encouragement, to become involved. Consequently, parents did not fully appreciate the importance of their involvement and did not always choose to become involved. The study revealed a number of barriers that further interfered with their involvement. The implications of the findings were discussed and recommendations for a PI programme that harnesses the strengths and addresses the weaknesses of this community were made. In order to improve educational practice, recommendations targeted each role player and type of PI separately. / Educational Studies / D.Ed.(Psychology of Education)

Parental involvement (PI) greatly benefits learners of all ages. The implementation of a PI programme would provide an effective and affordable means to address the needs of learners in Swaziland. The purpose of this study was to develop a PI programme for urban primary education in Swaziland. The literature revealed that while comprehensive PI programmes are most effective, PI in learning activities in the home and an appropriate parenting style are particularly beneficial and correlate more closely with learning success than family background factors. Nevertheless, a relationship between family background factors and PI exists. Furthermore there are numerous barriers to PI. However, the most important determinant of PI is the effort of teachers to involve parents. PI is particularly important at senior primary level, the level at which PI drops off spontaneously. In order to gain a more complete understanding of PI in this community, which would form the basis for an effective PI programme, a combined quantitative and qualitative approach was undertaken. A parental questionnaire was used to test quantitatively the affects of family background factors on three measures of PI and to determine the ways in which parents were involved, their attitudes to the schools, and the schools' efforts to involve them. Teacher and parent interviews and focus discussions were conducted following a qualitative ethnographic approach. The integrated quantitative and qualitative findings revealed a low level of PI. As a result of a lack of relevant policy, Swazi teachers had very little understanding of PI or their role in establishing it. Thus, schools generally practiced Swap's Protective Model such that parents had very few opportunities, and little encouragement, to become involved. Consequently, parents did not fully appreciate the importance of their involvement and did not always choose to become involved. The study revealed a number of barriers that further interfered with their involvement. The implications of the findings were discussed and recommendations for a PI programme that harnesses the strengths and addresses the weaknesses of this community were made. In order to improve educational practice, recommendations targeted each role player and type of PI separately. / Educational Studies / D.Ed.(Psychology of Education)

This research examined the reasons for the differences in the academic performance of school learners, and makes reference to economic, social and cultural capital theory in explaining educational imbalances in society. Many researchers have conducted studies on the factors contributing to the academic performance of learners at various levels of schooling have been undertaken. These researchers have come to the conclusion that the academic performance of learners is affected by numerous factors, namely, gender, age, learners' schooling, family’s socio-economic status, residential area of learners, the medium of instruction in schools, tuition trends, hours spent on studying on a daily basis and accommodation in hostels (Petersen, 2010:15). There is a popular saying in south-western Nigeria, that “if the parents’ financial status is good, the reflection of it will show in the child”. This study is focused on the academic performance of learners at the secondary school level and investigates the influence of economic, social and cultural capital on their academic performance. This study aims to determine which factors contribute to the poor academic performance of rural secondary school learners in south-western Nigeria and then, based on the findings of the research undertaken to make recommendations regarding what could be done to improve the academic performance of these learners. The mixed-methods approach of combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches to accomplish the aims of the research were used. The population consisted of four secondary schools, four school principals, 16 teachers, 40 parents and 120 learners. According to the results of this research, we can see that the social, cultural and economic capital of parents is a powerful determinant with regard to motivating their children’s education. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)