CHAPTER 2

Review Related Studies

The findings in the study of Masa Durisic and Mila Bunijevac(2017)

entitled,"Parental Involvement as a Important Factor for Successful Education".
Have significant bearing to the elementary school children in gaining greater
academic, language, and social skills (Grolnick and Slowiaczek,1994) , and high
school students to have a greater achievement and future aspiratios (Eccles and
Harold,1993) and spend greater time fulfilling their school works ( Epstein et
Al.,2009 ). The study shows that parental involvement is more significant to the
student's academic achievement than their family's socioeconomic status ,
gender , race and education background ( Amatea and West,2007; Henderson and
Berla ,1994). Parents have a huge impact on the achievement of the method of
education and upbringing of students . The parent's involvement including their
position at home ( monitoring the learning of their children), and performance in
school task apply by the school ( parent -teacher conferences,various kind of
parental task , volunteer activities, seminar of the parents).

The research is well promote that parental involvement has relationship on

the achievement of both children and adolescents ( Long ,2007; Rich,1987).
Parental Involvement can urge children's and adolescents success in several
ways . One of this way is that parents can assist their children in their school task
at home and give them inspirational life advice that will help boost their children's
confident . Parents who involved to their children's education, help them in their
school activities and provide tutoring by the used of resources provided by the
teachers aim to do better in school than parents that did not involved at all (Ball
and Blachman ,1991; lzzo et Al .,1999) . In addition , this study shows that the
level of parents that involve actively in the students education is associated with
academic achievement and children who has an active parents in their schooling
has contribute several advantage unlike to those parents who did not give an
active participation at all. Specifically, when the parents participate in teacher
conferences , accept phone calls from the school and read and sign messages
from the school , their children will have a huge advantage in terms of academic
more than children whose parents do none of the above . In addition, children
excel even more when their parents help them at home with their school works,
participate in school sponsored events and volunteer at their children's education
(Suizzo,2007;Weisz,1990) .

The findings in the study of Maria Castro and Jose Luis Gaviria entitled "
Parental Involvement on student Academic Achievement : A Meta Analysis " 37
studies, published from 2000 to 2013, were analyzed in this meta-analysis.These
studies were carried out from Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary
schools.Parental involvement has a positive and moderate impact on academic
achievement.High heterogeneity has been observed among the effect sizes
provided by the studies.

The study of Maria Castro and Jose Luis Gaviria is a quantitative synthesis of
research into parental involvement and academic achievement through a meta-
analysisof 37 studies in kindergarten, primary and secondary schools carried out
between 2000 and 2013. Effect size estimations were obtained by transforming
Fisher's correlation coefficient. An analysis has also been conducted of the
heterogeneity of the magnitudes grouped according to different moderator
variables, and a study of the publication bias affecting meta-analytical studies.
The results show that the parental models most linked to high achievement are
those focusing on general supervision of the children's learning activities.

The strongest associations are found when the families have high academic
expectations for their children, develop and maintain communication with them
about school activities, and help them to develop reading habits. In addition, the
study entitled relationship between parental involvement and secondary school
students' academic achievement Valerie J Shute, Eric G Hansen, Jody S
Underwood, Rim RazzoukThis paper reviews the research literature on the
relationship between parental involvement (PI) and academic achievement, with
special focus on the secondary school (middle and high school) level. The results
first present how individual PI variables correlate with academic achievement and
then move to more complex analyses of multiple variables on the general
construct described in the literature. Several PI variables with correlations to
academic achievement show promise: (a) communication between children and
parents about school activities and plans, (b) parents holding high
expectations/aspirations for their children's schooling, and (c) parents employing
an authoritative parenting style. We end the results section by discussing the
findings in light of the limitations of nonexperimental research and the different
effects of children's versus parents' perspectives on academic achievement.

Another study entitle The Effect of Parental Involvement and Socioeconomic

Status on Junior School Students’ Academic Achievement and School Behavior in
Chin(Wenjie Duan, Yuan Guan and He Bu, 2014)Previous studies have shown that
parental involvement impacts on the academic achievement and behavior of
adolescents (Fan and Chen, 2001; Jeynes, 2016). This brief study aims to promote
the development of children and adolescents by examining the relationship
between parental involvement, socioeconomic status (SES), and junior school
students’ performance (e.g., academic achievement and school behavior). A
survey that took a national representative sample for China was considered in this
work.

Parental involvement generally includes three aspects: home-based

involvement; school-based involvement; and academic socialization (Fan and
Chen, 2001; Hill and Chao, 2009; Hill and Tyson, 2009). Home-based involvement
entails parents’ involvement activities at home such as supervising homework,
checking homework, and talking about school life; school-based involvement
includes some activities implemented at school such as communicating with
teachers, attending the class meeting, and participating in school activities;
academic socialization mainly includes parents’ expectations and faith about their
children’s education (Hill and Tyson, 2009; Benner et al., 2016). This framework
was usually used in American culture (Wang and Sheikh-Khalil, 2014). For
example, using data for 15,240 middle school students in America, Benner et al.
(2016) tested the relationship between parental involvement (i.e., home-based
involvement, school-based involvement, and academic socialization) and
academic achievement. With the American data of Education Longitudinal Study
2002–2013, Day and Dotterer (2018) assessed the connection between parental
involvement (i.e., home- and school-based involvement and academic
socialization) and academic achievement. However, such framework should be
modified in the Chinese context (Lau et al., 2011). By using a data of 310
kindergartens, elementary schools and secondary schools from Home-School
Cooperation Committee of the Education Department in Hong Kong, Ng (1999)
found that Chinese parents didn’t like to get involved in school, and teachers
didn’t like to get parents involved in school either. Using a sample of 431 students
in Hong Kong, Lau et al. (2011) demonstrated that when compared with home-
based involvement, school-based involvement had less influence on children’s
educational performance. In interviews with 30 migrant children (mean age = 13)
in Zhejiang, China, Fang et al. (2017) found that school-based involvement was
less mentioned. In this case, the current studies only focus on home-based
involvement and academic socialization in the Chinese context. Previous studies
have demonstrated that home-based involvement and academic socialization
positively influenced academic achievement and school behavior (Fan and Chen,
2001; Chen and Gregory, 2009; Hill and Tyson, 2009; Benner et al., 2016). For
example, Manz et al. (2014) found that a mother’s home-based involvement
increased children’s interpersonal skills and decreased the incidence of negative
classroom behaviors. Hayes (2012) found that home-based involvement increased
adolescents’ academic achievement. Hill and Tyson (2009) further claimed that
academic socialization was positively related to academic achievement.
 In the study of Julie K. Nelson, 2009 entitle "The Impact Of Parent's
Education On Student Success." Researchers generally agree that a constellation
of familial factors exert significant influence on the educational aspirations and
academic achievements of adolescents (e.g. Garg, Kauppi, Lewko, & Urjnik, 2002;
Garg, Melanson, & Levin, 2007; Sánchez, Reyes, & Singh, 2006; Teachman, &
Paasch, 1998). Among those salient factors are parent’s occupation, educational
attainment, socioeconomic status, family composition, parental involvement,
peer and teacher influence, and adolescent self-efficacy. In the extant literature,
each of these factors has been examined in relation to one another with some
emerging as having greater direct effect. Sánchez, Reyes, and Singh (2006)
identified negative domains within the family such as low parental school
involvement, socioeconomic status, and educational level to explain Latino
youths’ educational failure. Behnke, Piercy and Diversi (2004) found a connection
between Latino youth’s educational and occupational expectations and their
parents’ education. Garg et al. (2002) reported that “educational self-schema,”
referring to the student’s perception of self and school, along with parental
expectations, resulted in 76% of the predicted variance in educational aspirations
of adolescents. A study on the effects of parental involvement as a form of social
capital found a greater likelihood of the youth enrolling in both a 2-year and 4-
year college (Perna & Titus, 2005). The data used for the analyses in Lippman,
Guzman, Dombrowski Keith, Kinukawa, Schwalb, and Tice’s (2008) report
originated from the 2003 National Household Surveys Program (NHES) Parent and
Family Involvement in Education Survey (PFI). They found 88% of students whose
parents had earned at least a bachelor’s degree had parents who expected them
to finish college compared to 44% of students whose parents had graduated from
high school or who had less than a high school diploma (Lippman et al., 2008).

When an adolescent rehearses mental images of success or failure

scenarios, they become the construct of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1994). “These
visualizations can serve to motivate one to take action to pursue a given goal”
(Vick & Packer, 2008, p. 476). Self-efficacy was identified as a possible mediating
factor of instrumentality in future goal possibilities such as “becoming a college
student” (Vick & Packer, 2008). Kao and Tienda (1998) concluded that eighth
grader aspirations to attend college derive primarily from parent’s education and
family background. Other researchers found substantial support for positive
relationship between mothers' and fathers' supportive educational behaviors,
educational level, language spoken in the home, and adolescents' aspirations
(Plunkett & Bamaca-Gomez, 2003). A same-sex traditional model emerged in
another study (Lomax, & Gammill, 1984) that confirmed the same-sex parent had
stronger influence on their child’s choice of career plans in terms of educational
and occupational direction. Teachman and Paasch (1998) reported it was
mothers' expectations and the students’ grades in school that had a positive
correlation to educational aspirations. There were a few studies of interest for the
present study that examined the independent variable of parent education on
students’ current scholastic success. The study sample in Vick and Packard’s
(2008) research resided in a town with a disproportionately high percentage of
families in poverty and a high school dropout rate more than twice the statewide
average. This negative outcome was linked to participants’ parents who had
graduated from a 4-year college at a rate of 17% or less. Suitor, Plikuhn, Gilligan,
and Powers’ (2008) study isolated the variable of mother’s education and its
impact on her children. Thirty-five women in this sample were followed for a
decade to determine the longitudinal effect of their return to school and the
consequence their academic achievements had on children’s educational goals
and orientations. The researchers found.

The study of David R. Topor, Susan P. Keane, and Susan D. Calkins(2017) entitled
"Parent involvement and student academic performance:A multiple mediational
analysis". In this study the researcher found out that children's perceptions of
cognitive abilities and the quality of student-teacher relationships. This study used
a sample of 158 of her 7-year-old participants, their mothers, and teachers.
Results showed a statistically significant association between parental
involvement and children's academic performance, beyond the influence of
children's intelligence. Multiple mediation models have shown that perceptions of
children's cognitive abilities fully mediate the relationship between parental
involvement and children's performance on standardized academic achievement
tests. The quality of student-teacher relationships fully mediated the relationship
between parental involvement and teachers' assessment of children's academic
performance in the classroom. Limitations, future research directions, and
implications for public policy initiatives were discussed.Parent involvement,
academic performance, student-teacher relationships

Parental involvement has been defined and measured in a variety of ways,

including the activities parents participate in at home and at school, and their
positive attitudes toward their children's education, schools, and teachers
(Epstein, 1996; Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994; Kohl, Lengua, & McMahon, 2000).
Differences in parental attitudes towards parental participation activities and
education have been highlighted in several recent studies. Several studies have
found that increased activity frequency is associated with increased levels of child
misconduct in the classroom (Izzo, Weissberg, Kasprow, & Fendrich, 1999), while
Education and Schools A positive attitude towards schooling was associated with
improved academic performance in children (Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, Cox &
Bradley, 2003). In particular, Izzo et al. (1999) reported increased parental school
activity. B. Increased parent-teacher contact was associated with lower
performance. This is likely due to increased contact with teachers to help them
address their child's existing behavioral problems. The importance of parental
attitudes towards education and school is not well understood, but attitudes are
thought to represent an important aspect of the parent-school relationship
(Eccles & Harold, 1996). Parents instill educational attitudes in their children
outside of school hours, and these attitudes are reflected in their children's
educational behavior and in the relationships between teachers and children and
parents (Kellaghan, Sloane, Alvarez, and Bloom , 1993).

Based on previous research, it has been hypothesized that parents with positive
attitudes towards their children's education, schools, and teachers can positively
influence their children's academic performance through two mechanisms:
increase.

(a) engaging children to improve their self-awareness of their cognitive abilities;

and (b) engaging teachers and schools to foster stronger and positive student-
teacher relationships.

Perceived cognitive ability is defined as the degree to which children believe they
possess the cognitive skills necessary to succeed in academic tasks such as
reading, writing and arithmetic (Harter & Pike, 1984). Previous studies have found
evidence that greater parental involvement improves children's perceptual
abilities (Gonzalez-DeHass, Willems & Holbein, 2005; Grolnick, Ryan & Deci,
1991). There are theoretical ways in which a child's perceptions and expectations
of cognitive abilities can be influenced by others.(a) achievement/acquisition, (b)
vicarious reinforcement, (c) verbal persuasion, and (d) emotional regulation
(Bandura, 1977). Moreover, improved cognitive performance in children is
consistently associated with improved academic performance (Chapman, Skinner,
& Baltes, 1990; Ladd & Price, 1986; Schunk, 1981). Based on theory and previous
evidence, Gonzalez-DeHass et al. (2005) suggest examining perceived cognitive
abilities to explain the relationship between parental involvement and children's
academic.

Data were collected by the child and the child's mother during two visits to the
laboratory and by the child's teacher during one visit to the child's school. The
child's IQ, academic performance, and perceived cognitive ability were measured
during her two laboratory visits when the child was 7 years old, compared to her
one-on-one with a trained graduate student. evaluated in the session. The child's
mother provided the latest demographics. School visits began a few months after
the start of the school year to allow enough time for teachers to become familiar
with the child and the child's mother. Teachers filled out a packet of
questionnaires containing measures of parental involvement and the child's
academic performance.

Another study of David R. Topor,a Susan P. Keane,b Terri L. Shelton,b and Susan
D. Calkinsb, 2008 entitled "Parent involvement and student academic
performance: A multiple mediational analysis". Parent involvement in a child's
education is consistently found to be positively associated with a child's academic
performance. However, there has been little investigation of the mechanisms that
explain this association. The present study examines two potential mechanisms of
this association: the child's perception of cognitive competence and the quality of
the student-teacher relationship. This study used a sample of 158 seven-year old
participants, their mothers, and their teachers. Results indicated a statistically
significant association between parent involvement and a child's academic
performance, over and above the impact of the child's intelligence. A multiple
mediation model indicated that the child's perception of cognitive competence
fully mediated the relation between parent involvement and the child's
performance on a standardized achievement test. The quality of the student-
teacher relationship fully mediated the relation between parent involvement and
teacher ratings of the child's classroom academic performance. Limitations,
future research directions, and implications for public policy initiatives were
discussed.

In the study of Impact of Faquia Hanif,Khurram Khan Alwi 2019 "Parental

Involvement on Academic Performance of Students". The present study was
undertaken to examine the relationship between parental involvement and
academic performance of students at higher secondary classes. Two research
questions and two hypotheses were developed. For this study sequential
explanatory mixed method design was used. Population was students of higher
secondary classes studying in Karachi. Quota sampling was used because
population was comprised three group of students including arts, commerce and
science. Two hundred students of higher secondary classes studying arts,
commerce and science and two senior faculty members were chosen as sample of
the study from a women college working in Karachi. In depth interview was
conducted with the ample faculty members to collect data. A questionnaire was
developed for data collection from sample students. Questionnaire was
comprising two sections. Section one was meant to collect demographic
information. Section two was based on four point rating scale comprising twenty
statements for the chosen variables. Data collected for the study analyzed by
using descriptive statistics, and Anova. On the basis of the results of the study it
was concluded that two factors of parental involvement i.e. Moral and financial
do affect academic performance of students of higher secondary classes. It is
recommended that the parents should spend time with their children and do
discuss their academics at home. Parents should have frequent interaction with
teachers and management of institutions in order to know that how they can add
more towards academic betterment of their children. Government should take
measures to encourage capable children of less affluent class specially to have
quality addition to manpower of the country.

Another study of Laura Lara and Mahia Saracostti Effect(2006). "Effect of Parental
Involvement on Children’s Academic Achievement in Chile".On an international
scale, parental involvement in school has long been heralded as an important and
positive variable on children’s academic and socioemotional development. From
an ecological framework, reciprocal positive interactions between these two key
socializing spheres – families and schools – contribute positively to a child’s
socioemotional and cognitive development (Bronfenbrenner, 1987). Empirical
findings have demonstrated a positive association between parental involvement
in education and academic achievement (Pérez Sánchez et al., 2013; Tárraga et
al., 2017), improving children’s self-esteem and their academic performance
(Garbacz et al., 2017) as well as school retention and attendance (Ross, 2016).
Family involvement has also been found to be associated with positive school
attachment on the part of children (Alcalay et al., 2005) as well as positive school
climates (Cowan et al., 2012). Research has also evidenced that programs focused
on increasing parental involvement in education have positive impacts on
children, families, and school communities (Jeynes, 2012; Catalano and Catalano,
2014).

Parent-school partnership allows for the conceptualization of roles and

relationships and the impact on the development of children in a broader way
(Christenson and Reschly, 2010). From this approach, families and schools are the
main actors in the construction of their roles and forms of involvement,
generating new and varied actions to relate to each other according to the
specific educational context. The main findings in the family-school field show a
positive influence of this partnership, contributing to academic achievement and
performance, among other positive consequences (Epstein and Sander, 2000;
Hotz and Pantano, 2015; Sebastian et al., 2017).

There is also strong support from international research showing the positive
influence of parental involvement over academic achievement, as has been
demonstrated in a variety of meta-analyses across different populations and
educational levels (Castro et al., 2015; Jeynes, 2016; Ma et al., 2016). Moreover,
although there is a wide range of parental involvement definitions, some more
general and others more specifics, there is a consensus among research results
about the positive influence of parental involvement over child academic
achievement. For example, in the meta-synthesis of Wilder (2014), where nine
meta-analyses are analyzed, this influence was consistent throughout the studies,
regardless the different definitions and measures used.

Parental involvement in school has been demonstrated to be a key factor for

children’s academic outcomes. However, there is a lack of research in Chile, as
well as in Latin American countries in general, leaving a gap in the literature about
the generalization of findings outside developed and industrialized countries,
where most of the research has been done. The present study aims to analyse the
associations between parental involvement in school and children’s academic
achievement. Cluster analysis results from a sample of 498 parents or guardians
whose children attended second and third grades in 16 public elementary schools
in Chile suggested the existence of three different profiles of parental
involvement (high, medium, and low) considering different forms of parental
involvement (at home, at school and through the invitations made by the
children, the teachers, and the school). Results show that there are differences in
children’s academic achievement between the parental involvement profiles,
indicating children whose parents have a low involvement have lower academic
achievement. Findings are in line with international research evidence, suggesting
the need to focus on this variable too in Latin American contexts.

REVIEW RELATED LITERATURE

Theory of Intelligence

"The Discrepancy of Parents’ Theories of Intelligence and Parental Involvement"

by Kexin Jiang1, Juan Liu1, Chunhui Liu1, Xiaolin Guo1, Huan Zhou1, Bo Lv1,
Zhaomin Liu2* and Liang Luo3*(2014).In families, mothers and fathers may hold
the same or different levels of theories of intelligence. This congruence and
discrepancy may influence parental involvement in children’s education. The
current study examined how both parents’ theories of intelligence and the
direction and degree of the discrepancy of parents’ intelligence theories influence
maternal and paternal involvement separately. We measured 1,694 matched
pairs of parents’ theories of intelligence and educational involvement, and
examined the relationships using linear regressions and polynomial regressions
with response surface analysis. The results showed that (1) the mother’s
intelligence theory positively related to both paternal involvement and maternal
involvement, but the father’s intelligence theory only positively related to
paternal involvement; (2) when the parents’ theories of intelligence reached
congruence, the parents’ theories of intelligence are positively related to both
maternal and paternal involvement; (3) when the parents’ theories of intelligence
have discrepancy, the maternal involvement is higher while the mother’s
intelligence theory’s level is more incremental than father’s; and (4) when the
parents’ theories of intelligence have discrepancy, more discrepancy of parents’
theories of intelligence is related to more paternal involvement. This study
revealed the significance of mother’s role in education, highlighted the
importance of parents’ congruence and discrepancies in beliefs, examined how
parents’ beliefs impact their own behavior and their couple’s behavior.
The theory of intelligence (implicit theory of intelligence, intelligence mindset)
(Dweck and Leggett, 1988) refers to beliefs that people hold concerning the
nature of intelligence, namely, the changeability of intelligence (Hong et al.,
1999). Specifically, there are two main types of theories of intelligence: the
incremental theory and the entity theory. The incremental theory assumes that
intelligence is malleable and changeable, most notably through effort and
persistence, while the entity theory assumes that intelligence is fixed and not
easily changed (Dweck and Leggett, 1988). Based on empirical research, Walker et
al. (2005) put forward a theoretical model, considering that the parent’s theory of
intelligence was an important psychological factor influencing parental
involvement.

Sociocultural Theory

Sociocultural Theory Affected partially by Piaget’s views, Lev Vygotsky

emphasized the relationship between human beings and their environment, both
physical and social, in his sociocultural theory. To him, the influences of social and
cultural factors on development and learning are abundant (Vygotsky, 1978).
Human beings are surrounded by family members and are impacted by the
culture in which they live (Rieber & Robinson, 2004). Children’s interaction with
their family members in the community is so important for their learning and
development since their first teacher is the family and their first learning takes
place in the community. For this reason children gain knowledge about the world
through this interaction. Vygotsky focused on the internationalization of
knowledge (knowing how) by addressing the zone of proximal development (ZPD)
as a concept to argue that children have levels of problem-solving ability (Prior &
Gerard, 2007). He defined ZPD as: “the distance between the actual
developmental level as determined by the independent problem solving and the
level of potential development as determined through problem solving under
adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.
86). He claimed that children can learn and achieve by themselves at one level.
However, he introduced another level that refers to the child’s abilities when
working under the guidance of an adult or a more able peer (Vygotsky, 1978). For
example, riding a bicycle is a tool of the society and beyond the child––that is why
it can be learned through working with more capable peers or an adult.
Accordingly, by emphasizing interrelatedness and interdependence in learning
and development, his theory supports the idea that a child’s home life is of
importance (Prior & Gerard, 2007) and parents contribute greatly to the
development and academic achievement of a child.

Theories and Parent Involvement

Theoretical perspectives provide the basis for research and inspire scholars to go
further in the social sciences. This is also true in the field of parent involvement.
This section delineates three major theories related to parent involvement: (1)
Piaget’s cognitive development theory, (2) Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, and (3)
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. These three theories have a great
impact on the research field, and thus are discussed with respect to parent
involvement.

Cognitive Development Theory

Cognitive Development Theory Have been called a contructivist as well as an

interactionist, Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development in children
and emphasized the constructive role of experience with peers and family
members. The basic assumption of his theory was that young children are active
learners with a constant drive to match their internal constructions (their own
view of the real world) and external constructions (the external realities they face
with in their surroundings) (Piaget, 1981). Children, as agents in his term,
continually rework and revise-assimilate and accommodate their internal
constructions with each new experience (Prior & Gerard, 2007). Other people and
the social milieu are important elements influencing the children’s environment.
Within this environment social interaction and context are “indissociable” from
their cognitive development. Children assimilate new learning and accommodate
their own incorrect views of the world more quickly if they are more actively
involved with people and things in their surroundings. In this regard, children
learn best when they have opportunities to interact with their environments, and
particularly with their parents who are a vital part of children’s environments
(Athey, 2007). For example, parent involvement activities such as practicing
interactive homework creates opportunities for children to interact meaningfully
with their parents such that children construct their own knowledge within both a
social and physical environment through this process (Bailey, Silvern, Brabham, &
Ross, 2004). As a consequence, Piaget’s social development theory supports the
idea that parent involvement is a crucial factor in children’s development and
achievement.

Ecological Systems Theory

Ecological Systems Theory is Another theory, advocated by Urie Bronfenbrenner,

is known as the Ecological Systems Theory. It has to do with the rationalization of
parent involvement and impact on research studies (e.g., Hung, 2007) on the
subject-matter. According to this theory, the development of children is affected
not only by factors within the child but also by their family and surrounding world
(Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Social, political, biological, and economic conditions also
affect the child (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). In his masterpiece, The Ecology of Human
Development (1979), he described ecology as the settings and institutions that
impact humans as they grow. The ecological environment is pictured as a nested
arrangement of concentric structures, with each of these structures contained
within the next. He arrayed these ecological systems as micro-, meso-, exo-, and
macrosystems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). This theoretical approach focuses on the
developing child and the child’s interactions with people, objects, and symbols in
“proximal processes” across multiple settings, contexts, and environments (Prior
& Gerard, 2007). “A microsystem is a pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal
relations experienced by the developing person in a given setting with particular
physical and material characteristics” (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 22). This is the
layer that affects the child most closely (Gestwicki, 2007). Family, school,
teachers, peers, child health services, and the neighborhood are some of the main
settings and institutions that he mentioned in his definition. Children experience a
reciprocal face-to-face relationship with these immediate surroundings. These
institutions within the microsystem also interact with and influence each other.
For example, school affects neighborhood and neighborhood affects the family
members of the child.
Another layer is called the macrosystem, which refers to consistencies “in the
form and content of lower-order systems (micro-, meso-, and exo-) that exist at
the level of the subculture or the culture as a whole” (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p.
26). This system includes attitudes and ideologies of the cultures such as laws,
morals, values, customs, and worldviews. Although these elements of the culture
are not readily parts of children’s immediate world, they can be very prominent in
their development. For example, family values in Turkish society certainly affect
childrearing practices, which have a direct impact on children’s development in
that culture. Moreover, Bronfenbrenner inserts another system known as the
chronosystem. This system refers to change or consistency over time in the life of
a person. For example, changes in family structure over time, such as its
demographic characteristics, which also were taken into account in this study,
have effects on a child’s development. In conclusion, based on Bronfenbrenner’s
theory, one can easily argue that children’s school experience is not just made up
of interactions between them and the school or teacher. It also includes a broader
system involving parents, family, and community. As a result, understanding the
influences of a child’s environment provides theoretical support for the idea of
parent involvement in young children’s education.