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Why Do Parents Become Involved in Their Children’s Education?


File number :
CS-CEFC-05e

Bibliographic reference :
Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (1997). Why Do Parents Become Involved in Their Children’s Education? Review of Educational Research, 67(1), 1, 3-42.

Abstract :

Why do parents become involved in their children’s education at school? Answers to this question were sought in this research synthesis. Three constructs were considered as instrumental in parental decisions to become involved: (1) construction of their parental role; (2) sense of efficacy regarding their contribution to fostering their children’s academic achievement; (3) opportunities, demands and invitations for involvement received from their children and the school.

Construction of the Parental Role
Construction of the parental role refers to what parents believe they should do regarding the education and school progress of their children. Construction of this role is influenced by institutional expectations within the parental environment (e.g., family, school, culture).

Two components associated with the parental role are particularly instrumental in parental decisions to become involved in monitoring their children’s schooling. The different concepts that parents may have of a child’s developmental process can serve to shape their role differently (e.g., the benefits of “traditional” education versus valuing a child’s development of self-respect). The same holds true for parental beliefs regarding the type of support they must provide for their children at home.

Parental Sense of Efficacy
To what extent do parents believe that their involvement can positively influence their children’s academic achievement? This is what the sense of efficacy refers to in the case at hand. Parents with a high sense of efficacy are more likely to believe that their involvement will have positive outcomes on their children’s academic achievement, while parents with a lower sense of efficacy will be more likely to avoid involvement.

Parents who attribute achievement to effort are likely to have a greater sense of efficacy and, consequently, are more likely to become involved. Parents also feel more effective in helping their children when they believe that intelligence is malleable. Lastly, parents with a high sense of efficacy are more likely to use proactive strategies to solve their children’s current or anticipated problems in school.

Demands, Opportunities and Invitations for Involvement
This construct refers to parental perceptions of children, teachers or the school wanting parents to become involved. Several factors can influence children wanting their parents to become involved (e.g., age, level of achievement). In addition, the presence, within the school, of educational practices encouraging parental involvement contributes to creating an inviting climate conducive to parental involvement.

Conclusion
Among the three theories presented, the construction of the parental role appeared to be the most determining element in parental decisions to become involved. Hence, interventions carried out to encourage parental involvement in school must not be limited to invitations for involvement, but must also operate on the two other theories whose importance was highlighted in this synthesis.

These three theories represent the first level of an explanatory model of parental involvement, the level where the decision to become involved or not is made. However, the process does not end there, because this model includes five levels. Parents then choose different ways to become involved (Level 2), which suggests the implementation of different mechanisms (e.g., reinforcement, modeling) (Level 3) that will be influenced by different variables (Level 4) in order to lead ultimately to the effect on student academic achievement (Level 5).



Links :
This journal is also available in electronic format. Publisher’s Website address: http://rer.sagepub.com/"

Key Words :
Parental Involvement, Construction of the Parental Role, Sense of Efficacy, Opportunity of Involvement, Invitations to Involvement, Parents’ Beliefs, Attribution, Theories of Intelligence, Problem-solving Strategy, Educational Practices, School Climate, Synthesis, Literature Review, Newsletter13

Monitored Countries :
United States