Topic  Parents, Family

10 and Community
Involvement
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to do the following:
1. State the benefits of parentÊs involvement in their childrenÊs
education.
2. Discuss the barriers to parent and family involvement.
3. Describe the types of parent involvement in education.
4. List the strategies to involve parents and community in childrenÊs
education.

 INTRODUCTION
Research found that kindergarten children whose parents were involved in their
learning have high levels of social skills and were observed to be more
cooperative, self-controlled and pro-socially engaged in both home and school
environments (McWayne, Hampton, Fantuzzo, Cohen, & Sekino, 2004). These
students also performed better academically than students whose parents were
not as involved in their education. This topic will discuss certain aspects relating
to parents, family and community involvement in childrenÊs education such as
benefits of parentÊs involvement, barriers to parent and family involvement,
types of parent involvement and guidelines for parent, family and community
involvement.

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ACTIVITY 10.1

In your opinion, why is parental involvement important in education?

10.1 CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Stewart (2008) claimed students whose parents are actively involved in schools
tend to have fewer behavioural problems, have higher regards of themselves as
learners and possess higher self-esteem. Parental involvement also allows
parents to closely monitor school activities and increase teacher and parent
working together to ensure better academic performance of their children.

Teachers who are more open to parental involvement normally appreciate

parents as important partners. Teachers also tend to give more focus to children
whose parents are actively involved in schools and are able to detect learning
problems earlier. Parental involvement has been found to give a positive impact
on teachersÊ work satisfaction and self-perception.

Previous research has shown that active parent participation in schools frequently:

 enhances a childÊs self-esteem;

 improves the childÊs academic achievements;

 improves parent-child relationships; and

 equips parents with a better understanding of the school philosophy and

procedures, hence creating a more positive attitude towards schools.
(Brown, 1989)

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 TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT  159

10.1.1 Benefits of Parent Involvement

We will look at the benefits of parent involvement from three different angles, for
students or children, for parents and community and for teachers and school.

(a) Benefits of Parent Involvement for Students or Children

The benefits for students or children are:

(i) they possess a more positive attitude toward learning and schooling;

(ii) they become better readers;

(iii) they receive a higher quality and developmentally appropriate

homework from teachers;

(iv) completion of more homework on weekends; and

(v) able to identify more similarities between home and school.

(Epstein, 1991)

(b) Benefits of Parent Involvement for Parents and Community

The benefits for parents and community are:

(i) receive ideas and support from schools on how to help children in
their school work;

(ii) learn more about educational programmes and how the school works;

(iii) become more confident about ways to help children learn; and

(iv) more positive views of teachers.

(Epstein, 1992; Henderson, 1987; Liontos, 1992)

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160  TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

(c) Benefits of Parent Involvement for Teachers and Schools

The benefits for teachers and schools are:

(i) teacherÊs morale and motivation improve;

(ii) parents rate teachers higher as they get to interact more with them;

(iii) teachers rate parents as more helpful;

(iv) student achievement improves; and

(v) parents support schools and this easily solves bonding issues.
(Davies, 1988; Epstein,1992; Liontos, 1992)

ACTIVITY 10.2

As a teacher in a preschool, suggest suitable activities that you can do

with parents that can benefit the children. Share your answer in
myINSPIRE.

10.2 CHANGES IN FAMILIES

As migration of families intensify from rural to urban living and more women
join the workforce, the structure of families has changed tremendously. Parents
are facing increasing pressure due to lack of support for the nuclear family. They
do not have the luxury of getting support from the extended family like in the
past generations. Many parents are isolated and have no one to assist them to
cope with the demand of caring for their children. In Malaysia, the national
survey (Heaton & Call, 1995) found that some single mothers had to do multiple
jobs to make ends meet for the family as their husbands do not pay for the
children after divorce proceedings are finalised. Given that situation, policies and
programmes that can assist single mothers, particularly in children and
education, are urgently needed.

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 TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT  161

Morrison (2009) suggested a few steps that schools could take to ensure that
single parent families are involved in their childrenÊs school. The suggested steps
are:

(a) Accommodating to family schedules by changing time to suit the family

such as early mornings, noon, late afternoon or early evenings. Sometimes
employers do not give release time for parents to attend events hence the
school should try to accommodate for all parents.

(b) Schools need to be aware that single parents have a limited number of time
to spend on involvement in their childrenÊs school and spend time with
them at home.

(c) Suggest creative ways in which single parents can make time with their
children more meaningful. Such as if children are having problems in
telling time, provide them with suggestions on how the parents can help
them overcome this problem at home.

(d) Getting to know family lifestyle and living conditions. This is important
because as professionals we should be able to advise them based on their
situation and circumstances.

(e) Help develop support groups for single parents by considering to invite
them when organising activities and programmes.

(f) Be creative and offer non-traditional activities, so that this would create
opportunities for single parents to volunteer their time or services. For
example, teaching children about gardening and vegetables.

ACTIVITY 10.3

Discuss with your coursemates on how you can get majority of parents
in your school to participate in school activities and learning in the
classroom. Create the discussion thread in the myINSPIRE forum.

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162  TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

10.3 BARRIERS TO FAMILY INVOLVEMENT

In the process of building relationships with families, teachers sometimes forget
to re-examine their own attitude and beliefs about family involvement; hence,
this could form invisible barriers to building a bridge with families. Self-
assessment and reflection could be a way to reduce these barriers. A survey was
done by the National PTA (1992) on barriers faced by schools in trying to get
parents involved. The following were the findings:

 parents do not have the time to spare;

 parents do not know how they can contribute;

 there is a lack of childcare;

 parents feel intimidated and not welcomed;

 school functions are scheduled at unsuitable time;

 there are language and cultural differences;

 there is no transportation; and

 there exist other barriers.

10.3.1 Breaking Down Barriers: Reaching Out to All

Parents
Overcoming barriers is not something impossible but teachers and school
administrators need to be creative and sensitive to parentsÊ needs. The following
are some possible ways of breaking down barriers:

(a) Be flexible with timing when scheduling meetings. Meeting can be

scheduled at different times or days of the week so that parents could at
least attend occasionally. Intermittently, make a meeting a potluck to meet
working parentsÊ needs.

(b) Personally welcome all parents, especially those who appear to be

withdrawn or uncomfortable. Get to know their interests and abilities.
Actively seek opportunities for hesitant parents to use their experiences and
talents to benefit the school. During meetings, get parents to share ideas
and not just inform of what has been decided. Make them realise that their
ideas are important. Ensure that the school environment is welcoming and
parent-friendly.
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 TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT  163

(c) Not knowing how to contribute is another issue that can easily be resolved
by finding out their talents and interest. Get parents to help out and share
information in classrooms on topics such as health and occupation. Arrange
workshops such as on leadership, health and others for teachers, conducted
by parents.

(d) Not understanding the school system is another barrier that could be
overcome by updating parents with information through parental talks and
guidance, or short workshops. Have parentÊs handbook covering the rules,
procedures and where to find the answers to typical problems.

(e) Parents with childcare problems need to be encouraged to bring their

children by providing space in schools for day-care and a babysitter.

(f) Have printed materials translated ă English on one side, another language
on the other. Arrange for an interpreter at meetings and conferences.

(g) Be sensitive to cultural differences. Take note of prayer times, special

cultural events and needs of other cultures and religion.

(h) Transport problem could be resolved by organising car pools, home

visitation, having a community centre at a parentÊs home or another
convenient place.

10.4 INVOLVING FAMILIES ELECTRONICALLY

In this modern world of technology, it would be a great shame not to use
technology as a means to get parents informed and involved in schools. Here are
some ways you can get involved with families through electronic medium such
as the Internet:

(a) Email is the most used mode of communication as it is fast and convenient.
For schools, email may be used to disseminate information to parents such
as dates of meetings.

(b) Most schools have a website that can provide general information to
parents and community members and let them virtually experience school
and classroom events.

(c) Use Twitter as a social-networking website to deliver short messages.

(d) Use video chat to hold convenient conferences with parents.

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164  TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

(e) Blogs can be used to feature lesson summaries, concept introduction and
classroom notes.

(f) Facebook can be used to invite parents and community members to be your
friends on your website. This instant online communication also allows you
to upload photos and videos.

ACTIVITY 10.4

Discuss how you could assist your school in parental involvement by

using electronic medium. Create this discussion thread in the
myINSPIRE forum.

10.5 TYPES OF PARENT INVOLVEMENT AND

ITS PURPOSE
Today, most educators and policy-makers acknowledge the importance of
parental involvement and advocate different components of parent involvement.
The National PTA (1992) describes the following types of parent involvement
(see Figure 10.1).
Figure 10.1: Types of Parent Involvement According to the National PTA (1992)

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 TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT  165

Head Start (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1992) describes four
primary avenues for parent participation (see Figure 10.2).

Figure 10.2: Four Primary Avenues for Parent Participation

ACTIVITY 10.5

What type of parental involvement is your school practising? Share

with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE forum.

10.6 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The community can be a rich resource for schools to help them meet the diverse
need of parents and children. Here are some suggestions on how teachers could
use these resources to help them in their teaching in schools:

(a) Teachers can have conferences and discussions with parents and members
of the community on how to overcome barriers in childrenÊs learning.

(b) Get to know the community to help you familiarise with the different
agencies available.

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166  TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

(c) Teachers need to keep in mind that community members and parents are
ever so willing to give help and support if they are being invited to do so.

(d) Compile a list of people from the community who are willing to work or
spend their free time in the school.

(e) Get involved in community-based agencies.

 Students whose parents are actively involved in schools tend to have fewer
behavioural problems, have higher regards of themselves as learners and
possess higher self-esteem.

 Parental involvement has found to give positive impact on teachersÊ work

satisfaction and self-perception.

 Changes in family structure have forced most families to depend on early

childhood centres to take care of their children.

 All parents including single parents need to be involved in all school

activities and events.

 Constant self-assessment and reflection by teachers could be a way to

reduce barriers as they re-examine their beliefs and attitudes about family
involvement.

 Parental involvement is now more defined where the roles of parents are
widened to collaborate in policy making, advocates of children, partnership
in school in collaborating with programmes and others.

 The community can be another rich resource for schools to help them meet
the diverse need of parents and children.

Advocate Parental involvement

Barriers Pro-social
Family structure

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 TOPIC 10 PARENTS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT  167

Brown, P. C. (1989). Involving parents in the education of their children. ERIC

Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Davies, D. (1988). Low-income parents and the schools: A research report and a
plan for action. Equity and Choice, 4(3) (Spring): 51ă57.

Epstein, J. L. (1991). Effects of studentsÊ achievement of teacher practices of

parent involvement. In S. Silvern (ed.). Advances in reading language
research, Vol. 5. Literacy through family, community and school
interaction. JAI Press.

Epstein, J. L. (1992). School and family partnerships. In M. Alkin (ed.).

Encyclopedia of educational research. MacMillan.

Henderson, A. T. (1987). The evidence continues to grow: Parent involvement

improves student achievement. Columbia, MD: National Committee for
Citizens in Education.

Heaton, T. B., & Call, V. R. A. (1995). Modeling family dynamics with event
history techniques. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57(4), p. 1078.

Liontos, L. B. (1992). At-risk families and schools: Becoming partners. ERIC

Clearinghouse on Educational Management.

Morrison, S. G. (2009). Early childhood education today (11th ed.) Prentice-Hall.

McWayne, C., Hampton, V., Fantuzzo, J., Cohen, H., & Sekino, Y. (2004). A
multivariate examination of parent involvement and the social and
academic competencies of urban kindergarten children. Psychology in the
Schools, 41, 363ă377.

Stewart, E. B. (2008). School structural characteristics, student effort, peer

associations, and parental involvement: The influence of school- and
individual-level factors on academic achievement. Education and Urban
Society, 40(2), 179ă204.

The National PTA (1992). A leaderÊs guide to parent and family involvement.
Author.

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