Parent Involvement in Education

Parent involvement in a child’s education has significant effects on the educational

process. A child’s educational process is dependent on the successful contribution of all the

stakeholders. These include teachers, parents, the community, and the government. This study

focuses on how parent involvement in education affects the child’s educational achievement.

Parent Involvement in Education

The School Planning and Management Team (SPMT) should slot in opportunities for parents to

take place in the school operations in their respective areas of interest and expertise. However,

this should be done in a way that does not paralyze the primary stakeholders’, teachers and

students, roles and the main objectives of the educational process. The involvement of the

parents allows them to join the teachers in supporting the all-round development of the students,

hence improving the learning process. Parents can be involved in their children’s education

through the following three ways: participating in the School Planning and Management Team,

helping in classrooms or sponsoring and supporting school programs, and general participation,

(Crosnoe, 477).

Participating in the School Planning and Management Team is a significant role which is

given to a group of parents who are selected by their peers to join the principal, professionals and

some non-teaching staff in the planning of the school activities. The selected group of parents

comprise of about five members who actively participate in the strategic formulation of the

school activities and join the other parents in the development of a plan that supports the school’s

strategic plan. Their contribution to the school’s plan is crucial since in most cases the parents

are the members of the society in which the school is located, unlike teachers who in most cases

are not from the surrounding area. This makes them the primary source of ideas on the needs of
the students as well as serving a link between the school and the community, which acts bases

for the planning of culturally appropriate social and classroom activities in the classroom, (West,

414).

Helping in Classrooms or Sponsoring and Supporting School Programs

This entails the involvement of parents in the day-to-day school activities, which is the primary

way in which the school is linked to the community. Students tend to be more attached to the

staff and the school once the parents develop an active and positive involvement in the school’s

day-to-day activities. By so doing, parents and teachers can motivate the students towards

achieving better social and academic standards, (Anderson et al., 315).

Parents are also involved in sponsoring most of the school calendar activities. In most cases,

parents offer financial support as well as volunteering in some roles. For instance, some parents

who are well skilled in extra curriculum activities such as games can volunteer to coach the

students on the same.

General Participation

Parents can also participate in the general activities, for instance, the Christmas program. Their

presence in such activities confirms their support to the students, making them feel appreciated

and motivated even to do better. It is through such involvement that the parents derive a sense of

pride as they watch their children perform. It is through such participation that the parents build a

healthy relationship with the children, hence determining their needs and meeting them, (Sium,

84).

A Research on the Effects of Parent Involvement in Education

During this research, 107 parents were interviewed as a way of determining how they were

involved in their children’s education, (Comer & Norris, 272). Questions that were aimed at
identifying the parent involvement in the following activities were asked: open evenings

attendance, informal discussions with the teachers, participation on school trips, helping in class,

parent-teacher association meetings attendance and serving as a school governor. The

interviewed parents showed an interest in education involvement, although a small group was

uncomfortable with the idea.

The findings were as follows: 98% of the parents who attended open evenings, 98% of

the parents participated in school trips. 69% helped in class, 52% confirmed to have engaged in

informal discussions with the teachers, 49% were attending parent-teacher association meetings

while 20% of the parents had served as the school governor, (Comer & Norris, 277). The study

found no quantitative relationship between parent involvement and social class. However, the

majority of the parents who were involved in their child’s education were the highly educated

parents. The research also found out that the more a parent got involved in his or her child’s

education, the more the psychoeducational development the child experienced, which translated

into good results, (Waanders et al., 275).

The family provides children with the required social, cultural and emotional support for

them to do well in their education. On the other hand, school is responsible for providing the

students with opportunities for interactions with teachers and other children which foster their

educational wellbeing. It is therefore essential for all the stakeholders to play their role well for

the children to do well in school. The school management should create time to educate parents

on the need for them to be involved in the children’s education, at the same time creating

opportunities for the parents to do so.

 Works Cited

Anderson, Kellie J., and Kathleen M. Minke. "Parent involvement in education: Toward an

understanding of parents' decision making." The Journal of Educational Research 100.5

(2007): 311-323.

Comer, James P., and Norris M. Haynes. "Parent Involvement In Schools: An Ecological

Approach." The Elementary School Journal 91.3 (1991): 271-277. Web.

Crosnoe, Robert. "Parental Involvement In Education: The Influence Of School And

Neighborhood." Sociological Focus 34.4 (2001): 417-434. Web.

Sium, Bairu. "Parent involvement in education." How Black and Working Class Children Are

Deprived of Basic Education in Canada. SensePublishers, 2014. 81-103

Waanders, Christine, Julia L. Mendez, and Jason T. Downer. "Parent characteristics, economic

stress and neighborhood context as predictors of parent involvement in preschool

children's education." Journal of School Psychology 45.6 (2007): 619-636

West, Anne et al. "Parental Involvement In Education In And Out Of School." British

Educational Research Journal 24.4 (1998): 461-484. Web.