Using case study methodology, and an interpretative paradigm, this study illuminates the hitherto unresearched hidden help that parents give their children with maths. It uses data collected from two phases, the first being three case studies of parents who approached the author as a private tutor, the second being five case studies of parents participating in a 'Maths for Parents' course designed by the author. It establishes that without prompting, parents do help their children with maths. It identifies seven new aspects of why and how parents help with maths: rescuing their children from the negative effects of school maths (a 'saviour attitude'), influenced by parents' past bad experiences ofmaths; being a source of maths knowledge for their children; keeping a watchful eye on whether the curriculum is being covered; trying to keep their child one step ahead of school lessons; acting as a bridge between home and school; concern for their child's welfare rather than academic achievement; and responding to their child's request. Parents who do not have an up-to-date understanding of pedagogy and school/curriculum structures have difficulties in supporting their children's maths, irrespective of their social class or mathematical ability. The study concludes that the practice is more widespread than has previously been acknowledged. It urgently needs to be recognised, and parents' perspectives understood by policy makers and schools, to limit the damage that can arise through ignorance of its extent. Although some parents may continue to work independently, as their agendas are mutually exclusive from those of school, initiatives to work in partnership with parents can be successful in bringing greater understanding of the curriculum, enriching parents' understanding of school maths and their relationships with their children and school, and resolving the conflicts that can hamper a child's mathematical progress.

Home-school relations are critical in determining how the educational process interacts with and is shaped by various social, cultural, political, and economic institutions. I focus my research on the educational involvement of mothers who volunteer at the elementary level in both the U.S. and Taiwan to seek a cross-cultural perspective on the structural inequalities embedded within home-school relations through the examination of mothers¡¦ roles on the one hand and the school¡¦s expectations on the other hand. By interviewing volunteering mothers and school administrators at one elementary school in each country, I discovered differences as well as similarities, reflected in the dominant mothering and educational discourses in the two countries. This qualitative cross-cultural study suggests a need to incorporate cultural and institutional variables currently outside of social and cultural capital-based frameworks in understanding the dynamics of home-school relations.

What is the nature and purpose of Family Learning? The discourses relating to how a strong home-school relationship affects attitudes to Lifelong Learning and the impact of paternal involvement in young children's development have been well researched and document clear links and positive, enduring benefits for families and professionals. In spite, or perhaps because of this focus, the means by which these connections are achieved and maintained remains less well explored. The issues that need addressing now are more tangible challenges, such as: what does good practice look like, who decides which notions are consolidated, when and why? Coupled with questions such as how do we get more fathers more involved and what will enable these relationships to flourish, this research reports on the initial findings from a small-scale exploratory inquiry, conducted as part of a professional doctorate, which considers a possible approach to these issues. It is an illuminative case study, located within an interpretive research paradigm, based on ontological assumptions of empowerment and emancipation for participants. A sociocultural epistemology informs and frames the work. The study sets out to explore the value and potential of Family Learning as a means of focused intervention in response to the questions raised, whilst also examining and increasing awareness of the issues involved, as seen by participants, to facilitate the expression of paternal agency and voice within the research process. The data collection, conducted over a period of six months, focuses on an existing Fathers’ Group, as they participate in a Family Learning project. It seeks to establish the nature and purpose of this type of provision, by clarifying the processes, outcomes and determinants of involvement through the eyes of the fathers, as they define and ultimately come to terms with their own identity and roles, in relation to their young children's development. The research centres on two workshops supported by several participant-led focus meetings. Two semi-structured staff interviews offer insight into the role that both professional and personal cultural and historical understandings of Family Learning play in the process, whilst the data analysis illuminates and describes the relationships between parents and practitioners, policy and pedagogy. The research observations could be used to inform approaches to both the establishment and the development of individual, personalised family frameworks for Lifelong Learning. The findings may also contribute towards a fresh perspective and offer creative approaches for professionals, in which pedagogical practice is not pre-determined but constantly evolving, on an equal and collaborative basis, between professionals and participants. This study offers a critical examination of grassroots Family Learning in practice. It is firmly embedded within and responsive to the needs of its local community. It aims to provide independent evidence to reinforce and extend the current knowledge base and ultimately, to maintain, strengthen and expand the connections between Family and Lifelong Learning.

This study aimed at exploring the school effectiveness characteristics of two high schools, one with high (School A) and one with low (School B) levels of placement ratio in &Ouml / SS for their graduates, to observe their characteristics as perceived by their stakeholders (students, teachers, parents, school administrative staff and managers). In this study, a comparative pre-structured case study method was employed. The study was conducted in two private high schools in the province of Ankara, Turkey. The participants were 10 students, 10 teachers, 10 parents, 2 non-academic staff and 3 administrators from School A, and 10 students, 10 teachers, 7 parents, 3 non-academic staff and 2 administrators from School B. A framework drawn by the researcher as a result of review of relevant literature was used to conceptualize the study and to guide the interview schedules to collect data. According to this framework, six general areas in effective school literature were explored. These areas were academic emphasis, organization and administration, school climate, home-school relations, teaching staff, and physical and financial resources. The data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed using content analysis technique. The findings revealed that two case schools had major differences almost in all areas explored. The only major similarity between two schools was in the leadership and leader qualities under organization and administration area. The effective school characteristics of the school with high levels of placement ratio in &Ouml / SS, in all six areas explored were added to the conceptual framework drawn at the beginning of the study.

The aim of this study was to examine the management of parent involvement in historically disadvantaged secondary schools in Tshwane West district, Gauteng. A literature study was undertaken to investigate the existing theories and models of parent involvement as well as their practical application. A literature study was also done to explore the historical development of the management of parent involvement in South Africa. The advantages of and barriers to parent involvement were also investigated through the review of both local and international literature. An interpretive, qualitative approach was adopted and an investigation of the management of parent involvement was conducted in three of the selected historically disadvantaged secondary schools in Tshwane West district, Gauteng. In-depth interviews were conducted with principals and focus-group interviews were held with three teachers as well as three members of the School Governing Bodies of each of the three selected schools. The overall impression was that the extent of parent involvement in the education of their children was very minimal due to the inability of the School Management Teams, especially school principals, to initiate, facilitate and sustain organisational structures and management processes which would ensure the effective involvement of parents in the education of their children. As a result of those findings, it was realised that a need existed to equip members of the management teams, including school principals, with appropriate skills that would assist in the implementation and sustenance of effective parent involvement programmes. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The dissertation studies how 16 Swedish middle-class parents understand and form their parenthood in everyday life. The focus is set on how they involve themselves in their children’s care and education, and how parental identities are negotiated in relation to cultural norms on parenthood. The analysis is based on qualitative methods, in particular interviews and participant observation with video camera in eight families. The study, which is inspired by poststructuralist perspectives on identity formation, shows that the informants position themselves in relation to a norm on involved parenthood, which is negotiated differently depending on social context and gender. The dissertation includes four empirical studies. The first focuses on the subjectivities and dilemmas that are created by parents’ strategies to manage time and childcare. The strategies render everyday life more effective, but the parents also want to be child-centered, which forces them to balance between positions as involved and uninvolved parents. The second study examines how the fathers negotiate their involvement in household work, childcare and time with children. To great extent, they follow the discourse on gender-equal and involved fatherhood, but they at times resist it through drawing on notions of child-centeredness, kinship, and a gendered division of labor. The third study focuses on how parents and teachers negotiate children’s education and rearing. Study four shows how the parents position themselves as involved parents in relation to their children’s homework. In conclusion, the dissertation shows that the parents idealize time spent with the children, but that in everyday life it is hard to get this time. Instead, much time is spent for the child, that is, doing household work and childcare. In both cases, time is child-centered, but time with the child is by the parents seen as “more” involved time. / Avhandlingen studerar hur 16 svenska medelklassföräldrar förstår och utformar sitt föräldraskap i vardagen. Särskilt fokuseras på hur de engagerar sig i sina barns omsorg och skolgång, samt hur föräldraidentiteter förhandlas i relation till kulturella normer kring föräldraskap. Analyserna är baserade på kvalitativa metoder, med intervjuer och deltagande observation med videokamera i åtta familjer. Studien, som är inspirerad av poststrukturalistiska perspektiv på identitet, visar att informanterna positionerar sig i relation till en norm om engagerat föräldraskap. Denna förhandlas dock i relation till kön och social kontext. Avhandlingen omfattar fyra delstudier. Den första fokuserar på de subjektiviteter och dilemman som skapas av föräldrarnas strategier för att hantera tid och barnomsorg. Strategierna effektiviserar vardagen, men föräldrarna vill samtidigt vara barncentrerade, vilket gör att de måste balansera mellan positioner som engagerade och icke-engagerade föräldrar. Den andra delstudien undersöker hur männen förhandlar sitt engagemang i hushållsarbete, barnomsorg och tid med barnen. De följer till stora delar den samhälleliga diskursen om jämställt och engagerat faderskap, men omdefinierar den genom att dra på föreställningar om barncentrering, släktskap och könsarbetsdelning. I den tredje studien undersöks hur föräldrar och lärare förhandlar om barns utbildning och fostran. Delstudie fyra visar hur föräldrarna positionerar sig som engagerade föräldrar i förhållande till sina barns läxor. Avhandlingen visar sammanfattningsvis att föräldrarna idealiserar tid som spenderas med barnen, men att det i vardagslivet är svårt att få denna tid. Istället ägnas mycket tid för barnet, det vill säga hushållsarbete och barnomsorg. I båda handlar det om barncentrering, men föräldrarna uppfattar tid med barnet som ”mer” engagerad tid.

The aim of this study was to examine the management of parent involvement in historically disadvantaged secondary schools in Tshwane West district, Gauteng. A literature study was undertaken to investigate the existing theories and models of parent involvement as well as their practical application. A literature study was also done to explore the historical development of the management of parent involvement in South Africa. The advantages of and barriers to parent involvement were also investigated through the review of both local and international literature. An interpretive, qualitative approach was adopted and an investigation of the management of parent involvement was conducted in three of the selected historically disadvantaged secondary schools in Tshwane West district, Gauteng. In-depth interviews were conducted with principals and focus-group interviews were held with three teachers as well as three members of the School Governing Bodies of each of the three selected schools. The overall impression was that the extent of parent involvement in the education of their children was very minimal due to the inability of the School Management Teams, especially school principals, to initiate, facilitate and sustain organisational structures and management processes which would ensure the effective involvement of parents in the education of their children. As a result of those findings, it was realised that a need existed to equip members of the management teams, including school principals, with appropriate skills that would assist in the implementation and sustenance of effective parent involvement programmes. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)