Introduction
The topic of parental involvement in children’s school life is relevant since education is crucial for every individual. Accordingly, notions that contribute to increasing the effectiveness of education are necessary. In this regard, parental involvement in schools is a possible way to increase the effectiveness of the educational process. This notion is formulated by several theories and concepts that confirm the positive impact of parental engagement in schools. Under parental contribution, there is increased control and motivation in the child since relatives are involved in the process of completing educational tasks. The work aims to review several theories and notions regarding parental involvement in schools and how it impacts the educational process.
Parental Involvement in Educational Process
It is worth noting that the chosen topic is widespread for study, which formulates many pieces of research and ideas explaining the impact of parental participation in schools. Thus, the first notion is a study conducted by Sujarwoto, Erma Kusumawardani, Lis Prasetyo, and Herwin, in which they concluded that parental involvement in schools positively impacts education (Sujarwoto et al., 2021). It is articulated by several forms of engagement, namely parent/child contact, parent/teacher contact, and child/parent/teacher contact. When all three of the above types of communication are successfully performed, the positive impact on the learning process increases. The child/parent/teacher contact is considered to be the most effective since the relationship between the child and the teacher is improved, and motivation and the child’s awareness increase. Parental control and involvement will make it easier for the student to adapt to new conditions since one will not feel alone.
In addition, there is the language model, which explains the need for parental involvement in schools in terms of the issue of immigrants. In this work, the authors found that parental participation in the child’s education and the negotiation process contribute to better adaptation to the new community (Herrera et al., 2020). It is formulated by the difficulties a child may face when immigrating to a new community and studying. Problems include cultural, social, and linguistic differences between the old and new communities and distinctions in traditions. Besides, parents can establish contact with teachers to improve the negotiation process through participation. It includes a discussion of the features of adaptation and the development of techniques for better and faster accommodation to new conditions (Herrera et al., 2020). Further, under the child/parent/teacher contact, one has the opportunity to discuss some of the issues that concern the student directly.
The barriers that arise when migrating to a new community can significantly impair a child’s education quality. It articulates the necessity for parental involvement in the school and the reasons why a lack of engagement can harm a student. A similar conceptual framework can be noticed in the study of the importance of parental participation concerning Asian immigrants. Parental involvement is essential to improve outcomes for Asian immigrants due to their cultural and traditional backgrounds (Sheldon & Vorbeck, 2019). It includes, for example, features of religion, which formulates a particular attitude towards oneself and the world, and ways of self-identification. In this aspect, the implication of parents will help to discuss with the child and teachers how to level out cultural differences and make the adjustment process cognitive and painless. Again, it requires contact with the student’s parents in order to be able to discuss the most effective methods and strategies directly.
Furthermore, the importance of parental involvement correlates with mainstream social development theory. In the paper, the authors point out that in the structural aspect, parental involvement in the child’s education is part of the social development theory (Parke et al., 2019). It is explained by the fact that the social development theory’s task is to describe the qualitative changes in society that help achieve better results. Accordingly, as already noted, parental involvement contributes to improving the child’s learning. Thus, one might notice that the principle of operation is the same; however, in the context of parental engagement, it has a narrower focus. As a result, it is appropriate to interpret parental involvement as part of social development theory.
Speaking about what exactly is the relationship of parental involvement to the theory of social development in theoretical terms, one can highlight several aspects. Firstly, as already noted, the principle of work in terms of the goals of these notions is the same. In addition, parental involvement in schools not only has a positive effect on learning outcomes. It can serve as a method for developing complementary theories and strategies for improving parental participation, related processes, and child learning. In other words, similarly to the theory of social adaptation, parental involvement is a way to develop a theoretical framework for improving processes, in this case, learning performance. Moreover, it formulates how these conceptual frameworks align with and undergird the proposed study. Namely, the items mentioned above frame its effectiveness.
It is worth noting the relationship of parental involvement to student development theory, which has a similar principle of connection to the theory of social adaptation. Student development theory aims to elaborate new and evolve existing ideas about improving student activity (Garvey et al., 2019). It includes a wide range of issues, such as relationships between students, housing, teaching, relationships with teachers, cultural differences, equality, and others (Garvey et al., 2019). In this regard, parental involvement may come forward as part of student development theory. Namely, as another method of improving student performance through parental participation. It implies increased control, communication, and the opportunity to directly discuss the learning process’s specifics.
Onwards, an essential part of parental involvement is homework. Namely, the process of fulfillment and assistance by parents to the child in order to complete the task and control the learned material (Herrera et al., 2020). If parents help the child and offer non-standard solutions, the student will be more self-confident since one is sure of success in answering the teacher. It affects both the child’s self-esteem and relationships with students and teachers. In addition, it increases the child’s motivation because one knows that one will be rewarded in the case of diligent work. Moreover, doing homework with a student improves the relationship between parents and the child, as they are involved in a certain process together. One has the ability to develop methods for adapting to a new community as well.
All mentioned theories and conceptual frameworks align with the proposed study in several ways. First, as already noted, parental involvement is part of some theories. That is, the basic principles of involvement argue the objectives of these theories, however, in a narrower sense. It formulates the need to develop a theoretical basis in this direction as part of other theories. In other cases, the goals of parental involvement are entirely consistent with the purposes of the above approaches. Accordingly, it articulates the relationship between the theories and the proposed work, namely the theoretical development of the issue. Finally, the results that will be obtained in this study will help confirm or refute these theoretical and conceptual frameworks. That is, through practical performance, one has the opportunity to strengthen the theoretical basis of a given issue. Finally, it is necessary to note the importance of parental involvement in the aspect of learning in a broader sense, namely hereditary memory.
Conclusion
Thus, when a child or student develops in conditions of active parental involvement, one subconsciously remembers these mechanisms. In the future, when having one’s own family, one will realize that parental involvement is essential and demonstrate it to their children. In this way, their children’s education quality will be improved, and an understanding of the importance of involvement for their children will be given. That is, the chain principle helps convey knowledge and the importance of parental involvement, improving the educational process in native memory. To conclude, parental involvement is an important aspect that positively influences a child’s education. Among the theories with which it has similar aims, it is a part of our student development theory and social development theory. The main reasons for the positive impact of parental engagement are increased control and improved communication. Finally, it is crucial in terms of evolving education through hereditary memory and improving relationships with children.
References
Garvey, G. C., Harris, J. C., Means, D. R., Perez, R. J., & Porter, C. J. (2019). Case studies for student development theory: advancing social justice and inclusion in higher education. Routledge.
Herrera, S. G., Porter, L., & Alva, K. B. (2020). Equity in school-parent partnerships: Cultivating community and family trust in culturally diverse classrooms. Teachers College Press.
Parke, R. D., Roisman, G. I., & Rose, A. J. (2019). Social development. (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Sheldon, S. B., & Vorbeck, T. A. (2019). The Wiley handbook of family, school, and community relationships in education. John Wiley & Sons.
Sujarwoto, S., Kusumawardani, E., Prasetyo, I., & Herwin, H. (2021). Parent involvement in adolescents’ education: A case study of partnership models. CIES, 16(4), 1563-1581. Web.