After reading the activity 3.1 and the introduction “attached”, I need you to do the following:
We need to select the activities to help in focus and approaches to collecting data for the study. The tools that we will use is:
1- Documents (artifact tool).
2- Organizational chart/maps (Observational data tool).
3- Surveys/questionnaires (Inquiry data).
You need to describe them, tilling what kind of information you will get from them in one paragraph for each tool.
Attachment
Activity 3.1: Review of Literature
Literature review outline
How students are affected by parents’ involvement in school
- Performance (Hara & Burke, 1998)
- Behaviour (Hara & Burke, 1998)
- Adaptation (Hara & Burke, 1998)
How schools promote parent involvement
- Parenting (Map & Henderson, 2002)
- Communicating (Map & Henderson, 2002)
- Volunteering (Map & Henderson, 2002)
- Learning at home (Map & Henderson, 2002)
- Decision-making (Map & Henderson, 2002)
- Community collaboration (Map & Henderson, 2002)
Results of parent involvement
- Higher grades, higher scores and enrolment in higher education programs (Department of Education, 2010)
- Students are promoted to higher classes (Department of Education, 2010)
- Students attend school regularly (Department of Education, 2010)
- Students acquire better social skills and improve their behaviour (Department of Education, 2010)
- Higher chances of graduating and enrolling in post-secondary education (Department of Education, 2010)
References
- Department of Education. (2010). The importance of teaching: The schools white paper 2010. London: Crown Copyright, The Government of U.K
- Map, L.K., & Henderson, T.A. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. SEDL, Annual Synthesis
- Hara, R.S., & Burke, J.D. (1998). Parent involvement: the key to improved student achievement. School community Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2
Attachment
Draft of Introduction
Involvement of parents in schoolwork
Education is deemed as the key to unlock potential and the primary role of a school is to offer education to people so that they can improve their livelihoods. There are different kinds of schools meant to cater for people of different age groups that want to acquire various diverse skills (Grant & Ray, 2010). Schooling plays are integral role in the lives of many people since almost the whole of childhood lives is spent there. At schools students meet classmates from different backgrounds, social spheres, religious and political beliefs while they have different future ambitions. This might influence their behaviors and parents need to be observant on the way their school going children behave and this can only be achieved by active participation of their school life.
The easiest way for parents to be involved in their child’s school activity is by having the contacts of their teachers (McNeal, 2012). When the child is in schoolteachers act as the parents of the child and a proper and direct communication channels should be availed to have first hand information of the child while in school. This should be very important especially if the child has a pre existing medical condition that the parent needs to keep track of. Also in times of emergencies such as accidents during school activities, they should be able to have first hand information on what is going on. This direct communication can also be instrumental when the teacher wants to pass certain information directly to the parent especially issues pertaining discipline and behaviors of students.
Getting the teachers contacts is not enough and parents should make a point to personally know the person who acts as their substitute when their children are in schools. This can be done by ensuring presence during school events and having a less official approach while interacting with the teachers. Knowing the teacher more will make it easy for him or her to share information, with much ease especially in regards to the behavior of the child, or any changes that might have occurred within the school (Grant & Ray, 2010). Parents should also treat teachers with outmost respect that they deserve in order to feel appreciated and be motivated with their jobs since unhappy teachers can be physically or emotionally abusive to children especially the young ones.
Parents that have extra income to spare should also participate in the purchase of school supplies if their students attend schools that do not have enough of these recourses (McNeal, 2012). Leaving the burden to teachers alone who are struggling to make ends meet will demotivate them hence not giving their best while teaching the children. If a person is wealthy, they can donate some money that might help in improving the standard of the school and education. One can also volunteer to offer knowledge on a certain skill they posses. For example, a musician can meet, inspire and advice to students that have the dreams to make it in the music business.
Parents should prioritize attendance of school activities. School activities include general parent teacher meeting and sports events that the school is participating in (McNeal, 2012). attendance of social events with their children plays a major role in growing the bond between them. It also serves as an opportunity for the parent to know the friends his/her children is hanging out with. It also informs the parent on how their child acts at school. It can also serve to motivate the students participating in a certain event making them offer their best performances. This also grows the school community between parents, teachers, and other students enabling them to learn a lot from each other.
A parent knowing each other is also extremely important. During school events, parents should actively socialize with their counterparts especially those of their children’s friends and classmates. These will be important in observing their behaviors and can be instrumental especially when the parents want to play an active role in school activities (Grant & Ray, 2010). The parents can also make friends that might be of great help in the near or distant future. The parents can also join school committees which will help in making them perform an integral role in the management know what will be best for their children.
My parents were more involved in my school life while I was of a younger age as compared to when I had grown up into my teen years. When I was in kindergarten and early elementary school, my mother used to drop and pick from school on daily basis. This made me so fond of her and I enjoyed the attention since many of my friends had to take the bus from and to school. Due to her daily interactions in our school, she knew many of my teachers and had made acquaintances with some of them. They kept her informed of my school performance and of any trouble that I would make which in turn made me into a disciplined student since I was not able to get away with any undisciplined incident while in school.
My mother’s friendship with some of the teacher also saw me receive extensive attention and the teachers were more willing to help me understand and learn more helping me to become among the top students in class. Teachers also protected me from bullies that could have caused me a lot of emotional and physical harm. I was also intolerant to acidic foods and needed special diet, which the school had no objection due to the fact that the teachers knew my mother. The teachers also felt as if they were my parent and they tried t understand and advice me a lot as compared to rashly disciplining me.
My mother was present in general meetings and she would show up with my father. I might have not appreciated it that much at the time but could not help but notice that the mean and ever angry students were represented by a parent who barely cared about their education while some did not bother showing up. During these meetings, my parents interacted with other parents, making instant friendships. Due to this, I made more friends through them since I was quiet and slow to make friends. My parents organized other parents to form a union of parents that would chip in and assist the school. They managed to look for and pay a basketball coach helping our school make it to the state championships.
When I was in middle school my parents, action in school drastically reduced mainly due to the fact that I had grown up and could take care of myself. I had to take the school bus from home to school. They were still keen on attending general meetings where they would extensively discuss my performance. Their contribution was sufficient in ensuring that I performed well in school. I was good at track events but I was very reluctant in joining the track team but a meeting set up by the coach that had attendance of both my parents played an instrumental role in convincing me to join the team. Judging by parents’ willingness to meet up with teachers I stayed out of trouble
My parents also made sure that they attended sport events in our school especially the ones that I was in. this encouraged me a lot and I was always at my best. They also followed up on my progress and training and I remember having a jog with my father on various occasions. Direct involvement of my parents in my sport activities gave me a lot of encouragement and buoyed to me to achieve various accolades. With time, our school coach had grown fond of my father and they became great friends. Their closeness ensures the coach treated me like his own son and was never hesitant in giving me advice that has lasted me up to this day.
In high school, my parents continued with their engagements in my school. They were still very eager to attend general meetings where they met my teachers and other parents as well as knowing my close friends and classmates. This in turn made my parents more approachable since they knew a lot about me. They also watched my behaviors and my school performance carefully which ensured that I remained disciplined throughout school despite my adolescent age and the peer pressure that I was facing. My parents still made friends with teachers who always treated me well and were always okay to repeat something until I understood.
References
- Department of Education. (2010). The importance of teaching: The schools white paper 2010. London: Crown Copyright, The Government of U.K
- Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. (2010). Home, school, and community collaboration: Culturally responsive family involvement. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.
- McNeal, R. B. (2012). Checking In or Checking Out? Investigating the Parent Involvement Reactive Hypothesis. Journal Of Educational Research, 105(2), 79-89.
- Map, L.K., & Henderson, T.A. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. SEDL, Annual Synthesis
- Hara, R.S., & Burke, J.D. (1998). Parent involvement: the key to improved student achievement. School community Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
OVER
RATING
YEARS
