Parent involvement in schools

Parent Involvement in Schools Involvement of parents in the children’s education process involves participation of parents in the different activities that children engage in whenever they are in the formal process of acquiring an education. Parents should be more involved in their children’s school life and education in that it has been regarded to be the most important aspect of learning to the learner as ide from having a school and teachers to impart education on them. As such, research on parental involvement in children’s education indicates that participation promotes motivation to the children in question as parents act as the reason for children to enjoy acquiring education and not as a form of punishment. It is because of this that children whose parent participates actively in their children’s education have a high level of academic achievement due to this motivation (Hornby and Lafaele, 2011).
In addition, parental involvement should be encouraged due to its impact on the working relationships found in schools, especially between and amongst different school parties. With this in mind, parents get an opportunity to improve the socialization skills of their children with their teachers and other members of staff, as well as amongst themselves, which is crucial for academic networking. Parental involvement therefore should be active as it also boosts the morale of teachers in imparting education on children, as teachers perceive the interest of parents as motivation to have their children moulded into responsible citizens and members of society, where the teacher is the key.
School responsibilities in ensuring parental participation lies in different factors that entail both the school’s interests and those of the parent, as well as those of the child (Sitton, n. d). It is because of this that the school has the largest responsibility in ensuring that parental cooperation and involvement in a child’s education in that schools spend large amounts of time with children. Putting this into perspective means that schools should put in more effort in drawing the parents to the school to understand that which their children go through in learning. In addition to this, teachers in in spending more time with children should know the interest of the children, which is information to be shared with parents for the best interests of children. This makes the school the guardian of the children, where it is up to the school to come with strategies to meet the parent and create forums in which to foster a healthy relationship between parents and the school.
However, it is not for schools to take all the responsibility as parents have a responsibility to their children to provide the best for them, which means that they should attempt to bridge the gap between the school and themselves. Studies show that schools in which parents take partial or full responsibility have better performance as compared to those that do not have the same kind of initiative. This is to say that the school does not have all the entire responsibility but it is for parents to take initiative to bolster the children’s performance and build working relationships between the two parties; school and parent fraternity (Promise Academy Charter schools, n. d).
In conclusion, it is crucial to have parents engage in their children’s education process and take then responsibility to meet the parents and involve. However, parents should also take the initiative to improve their own relationships with the school and not leave the burden to schools.
References
Hornby, G., & Lafaele, R. 2011. Barriers to parental involvement in education: an explanatory model. Educational Review, 63(1), 37-52.
Sitton, B. n. d. Parental involvement in learning. Family Learning. [Online] Available at: http://www. familylearning. org. uk/parental_involvement. html Accessed 19/05/2013.
Promise Academy Charter schools n. d. Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy Charter School Parent Involvement Policy. [Online] Available at: https://sites. google. com/a/hczpromise. org/public/for-parents/parent-involvement-policy Accessed 19/05/2013.