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)

Parent-teacher conferences are an important component of parent involvement practice in any school. However, parent-teacher conferences often come short of the expectations of both parents and teachers and fail to lead to lasting solutions to learners' problems. This study focuses on the implementation of parent-teacher conferences in primary schools. The problem was investigated by means of a literature study and an empirical investigation. The literature identified approaches to and models of parent involvement, common barriers to parent-teacher communication and the characteristics of effective conferences. A qualitative investigation explored the process of a small sample of parent-teacher conferences in a selected primary school in Mamelodi, Gauteng Province. Data was gathered by participant observation. Findings showed that teacher talk predominated during conferences; the importance of mutual trust and teachers' listening to parents; guiding parents to improve learning at home and barriers to communication. Recommendations based on the findings were made. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education management)

Parent involvement is consistently ranked high among the key components of effective schools, and as a result is one of the brightest prospects for the future of public education. This study sought to develop a reliable measure to strengthen parent-teacher relationships that included previously unidentified aspects. Using a qualitative approach, 27 participants were purposely selected to be interviewed in order to determine the challenges stakeholders face in arranging constructive parent-teacher relationships. In addition to parents-teacher relationships, the goal was to determine the role of school principals in managing effective communication to strengthen these relationships between parents and teachers. Results identified numerous reliable parent involvement factors reflecting home monitoring, effective school involvement, and educational management. Attitude toward learning and competence motivation of learners learning behavior were positively identified when all stakeholders work together as a team. Education management that translates high expectations strengthens parent-teacher relationships for the sake of optimal learner development. / Educational Studies / 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 Management and Leadership / 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)

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))

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Parental involvement is a term that is associated with parental participation in schools and parents’ support of their children’s education. It is subjective in nature and often difficult to evaluate. In the late 1990s, many Somali families immigrated to South Africa due to the on-going factional wars in their country to take up employment opportunities and start a new life as immigrants. Limited knowledge exists about such parents’ understandings of education and their role in the educational development of their children. In this study, the researcher explored the various forms of support that Somali immigrant parents provide to their school-going children. This basic qualitative research study is situated in an interpretive paradigm. Through snowball sampling, five parents from a Somali community in the Helderberg area of the Western Cape were selected for the study. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, a focus group interview and observations and was subjected to content analysis. The study found that there are various forms of support that Somali parents offer their primary school children. The support that these parents offer is mostly of physiological nature, such as to feed and to clothe them. The challenges that these Somali participants face are educational, cultural and linguistic. The study found that because the majority of the participants are uneducated, they face limitations in how they can support their children academically. Due to their lack of schooling experience together with their linguistic constraints, the parents’ participation tend to be limited to attending meetings and participating in social events. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ouerbetrokkenheid is ’n term wat algemeen in die skoolgemeenskap gebruik word en word gewoonlik vereenselwig met ouers se deelname aan skoolaktiwiteite asook hul ondersteuning ten opsigte van hul kinders se opvoeding. Ouerbetrokkenheid is subjektief van aard en dikwels moeilik om te evalueer. In die laat 1990’s, net na die beëindiging van apartheid, het baie Somaliese families, as gevolg van die voortdurende stamoorloë in hul land, na Suid-Afrika geëmigreer om nuwe werksgeleenthede te soek en sodoende ’n nuwe lewe as immigrante te begin. Beperkte kennis bestaan oor die uitdagings wat hierdie immigrantefamilies in die gesig staar asook hul rol in die opvoedkundige ontwikkeling van hul kinders. In hierdie studie het die navorser gepoog om die verskillende vorme van ondersteuning wat Somaliese ouers bied, te verken. Hierdie basiese kwalitatiewe navorsingstudie is in ’n interpretatiewe paradigma geleë. Deur middel van ’n sneeubalsteekproef is vyf deelnemers van ’n Somaliese gemeenskap in die Helderberg-gebied in die Wes-Kaap as deelnemers aan die studie gekies. Die data is ingesamel deur semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude, ’n fokusgroeponderhoud en waarnemings, en is toe inhoudelik ontleed. Die studie het bevind dat daar verskillende vorme van ondersteuning onder Somaliese ouers bestaan, wat hulle aan hul skoolgaande kinders bied. Die ondersteuning wat hierdie ouers aan hulle kinders bied, is van fisiologiese aard, byvoorbeeld om kos en klere, te voorsien. Die uitdagings wat hierdie Somaliese deelnemers in die gesig staar is opvoedkundig, kultureel en taalkundig. Die studie het bevind dat omdat die meeste van die ouers ongeletterd is, hulle nie hul kinders met hul skoolwerk kan help nie. As gevolg van hul gebrek aan skoolopleiding asook hul taalkundige beperkinge, is dié ouers se deelname geneig om beperk te wees ten opsigte van die bywoning van skoolvergaderings en deelname aan sosiale geleenthede by die skool.

This sociological investigation examines the changing role of parents in the education of their children in Catholic schools in New South Wales over the twentieth century. Catholic Church documents specifically state primary parental responsibility for their children???s religious education. Catholic schools were established to inculcate faith, and assist parents??? role. This thesis asks, to what extent that role has been realised? It unravels the processes that determined and defined the changing role of Catholic parents during this period, and identifies significant shifts in institutional thinking and practices related to parents and resultant shifts in cultural and social perceptions. After half a century of conformity and comfort, a significant era followed as the Australian Church responded to challenges, including financial crisis for Catholic schools, reform in the Australian education system, and the impact of the Second Vatican Council. Cohorts from three generations were selected. Interviews and focus groups elicited memories that were recorded and analysed, in terms of the integral questions; the role and involvement of parents in Catholic schools. Participants recalled their own childhood in Catholic schools and, where applicable, as parents educating their own children, or as religious teachers. The analysis was theoretically informed by the work of Durkheim, Greeley, Coleman and Bourdieu. A review of Church documents and commentaries through the twentieth century, bearing on the education of children, showed the official Church position. Despite numerous rhetorical statements issued by Catholic authorities, emphasising the role of parents as ???primary educators???, the practical responses ranged from active encouragement to dismissal. Teachers in Catholic schools and related bureaucracies were, seemingly, reluctant to initiate a more inclusive partnership role. Gradually, and in a piecemeal fashion, the Catholic Church and its schools have been responding to growing parental consciousness of their role and responsibilities. A significant shift was signalled by the New South Wales Bishops in establishing the Council of Catholic School Parents, to be supported by a full-time, salaried Executive Officer, in 2003. But any accommodation to new understandings of parent/teacher, or family/school relation is complex and not to be oversimplified as a simple sharing, or ceding of authority.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education