Gozitan educators’ perceptions of parental involvement within the educational experience of primary school children

Abstract

This study is aimed at exploring the main objective which is “Gozitan educators’ perceptions of parental involvement within the educational experience of primary school children.” The research further analyses the strategies which schools implement to enhance parental involvement. Moreover, it focuses on identifying the effects of a good parent-teacher relationship. Throughout the study, a number of parental involvement benefits were outlined, coupled with different obstacles which could impede parental involvement. A qualitative approach was implemented to investigate these claims. This involved carrying out research in three randomly chosen primary schools located in Gozo. A focus group of five teachers from each school was organized while the researcher also interviewed two of the Heads. Through analysing the data gathered, findings show that educators had a general consensus on parental involvement pertaining to children’s activities and parental tuition. Results show that schools employ several strategies to enhance parental involvement, but participation is still minimal. Moreover, a good parent-teacher relationship is highly valued as results show that parents, teachers and also children enjoy benefits. Further analysis shows that teachers generally support parental involvement, but do not look with favour on their participation in the decision making process. To sum up this research, the researcher provided recommendations on further studies, together with suggestions on how parental involvement could be enhanced.