Ama Doe Parental involvement in early years' education

101 Pages·2015·0.96 MB·English

by  Me Nyame

Ama Doe

Parental involvement in early years’ education: perspectives of parents and practitioners

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Erasmus Mundus joint
degree “International Master of Early Childhood Education and Care”

Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences
Dublin Institute of Technology
University of Gothenburg
University of Malta

August 2015
ABSTRACT

Ama Doe

Parental involvement in early years’ education:
Perspectives of parents and practitioners
The current case-study, conducted in one Maltese early years setting, sought to explore the
perspectives of parents and practitioners about parental involvement in children’s early
education. Ten practitioners, the head of the early years’ setting and one hundred and five
parents whose children were enrolled at the setting participated in the study. Qualitative and
quantitative data were collected through focus-groups interviews and questionnaires.
Bronfenbrenner’s (date) theory of the ecological system of human development provided the
theoretical framework for the study. This model postulates that the interactions between early
years’ practitioners and parents may influence the development and education of children.
The findings revealed that there were some levels of opportunities for parental involvement
but not all practitioners welcomed that idea. Although all practitioners agreed that parents
are children’s first educators, a majority of eight (8) practitioners thought their ‘profession’
demands trained and skilled people to handle the children at the early years’ setting.
Therefore, too much involvement by anyone who has not undergone training to work at the
early years was interpreted as “work interference”. This made it difficult for more parents to
be involved in spite of their tight work schedules and family commitments as reported by
50% of parents. The study makes recommendations for changes at the setting. A formal
written policy document on parental involvement needs to be adopted to address needs of
working parents and parents with family commitments to actualise their involvement in their
children’s education.
Degree Title: International Master of Early Childhood Education and Care (IMEC)
August 2015
Key words: PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT; EARLY YEARS’ PRACTITIONERS;
PERSPECTIVES
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DECLARATION
I hereby certify that the material which is submitted in this thesis towards the award of the
Masters in Early Childhood Education and Care is entirely my own work and has not been
submitted for any academic assessment other than part-fulfilment of the award named above.

August 2015

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Almighty God for His special gift of love and
protection throughout this two (2) year studies.
I also wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to Prof. Valerie Sollars, my supervisor for her
immense contributions and suggestions done whole heartedly for the success of this
dissertation. I am also grateful to her for allowing me to use her books, journal articles and
relevant materials throughout the writing of this dissertation.
I would like to thank the head of school of the centre for welcoming and granting me the
permission to undertake my study in this early years centre. I also wish to thank all the
practitioners at the centre for being supportive during the observation and interview sessions.
Finally, I am indebted to my husband and family for the much support they gave in diverse
ways throughout my studies.

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DEDICATIONS
This piece of work is dedicated to my husband, Dr. Benjamin Doe and all early years’
children.

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TABLE OF CONTENT
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ ii
DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... iv
DEDICATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... ix
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................. x
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1
1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 The Maltese context ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Rationale ....................................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Aim and objectives of the study .................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Theoretical Background ................................................................................................................ 4
1.4.1 Structure of the environment .................................................................................................. 4
1.5 Overview of the study ................................................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 8
2.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Terminology associated to parental involvement ......................................................................... 8
2.2 Parents’ roles in parental involvement .......................................................................................... 9
2.3 Promotion of parental involvement over time ............................................................................ 11
2.4 Models of Parental involvement practices .................................................................................. 12
2.4.1 Pugh and De’Ath’s Model ................................................................................................... 12
2.4.2 Dale’s models of parental involvement................................................................................ 13
2.4.3 Epstein’s (1995) framework of parent involvement ............................................................ 15
2.5 Brief overview of OECD’s analysis on parents’ engagement..................................................... 16
2.6 Guidelines for best practice and curricular in involving parent .................................................. 18
2.7 Benefits of parental involvement for children ............................................................................ 19
2.8 Benefits of parental involvement for parents .............................................................................. 20
2.9 Benefits of parental involvement for practitioners ...................................................................... 20
2.10 Barriers to parental involvement ............................................................................................... 21
2.11 Strategies for involving parents ................................................................................................ 22
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................. 25
3.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 25
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3.1 Research questions ...................................................................................................................... 25
3.2 Research Design .......................................................................................................................... 25
3.3 Sample......................................................................................................................................... 26
3.3.1 General profile of practitioners ............................................................................................ 26
3.3.2 General profile of parents .................................................................................................... 28
3.4 Data collection procedure ........................................................................................................... 28
3.5 Measures and instruments ........................................................................................................... 28
3.5.1 Advantages and limitations of interviews ............................................................................ 28
3.5.2 Advantages and limitation of questionnaires ....................................................................... 29
3.5.3 Parents’ questionnaire .......................................................................................................... 29
3.5.4 Administration of the questionnaire ..................................................................................... 30
3.5.5 Practitioners’ focus group interview .................................................................................... 30
3.5.6 Administration ..................................................................................................................... 31
3.5.7 Interview with the Head of school ....................................................................................... 32
3.5.8 Administration ..................................................................................................................... 32
3.6 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 32
3.7 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................................ 33
3.8 Reliability and Validity ............................................................................................................... 34
3.9 Pilot study ................................................................................................................................... 34
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS ............................................................................................................ 35
4.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 35
4.1 The role of parents in parental involvement ............................................................................... 35
4.1.1 Parents’ perceptions, experiences and current practices ...................................................... 35
4.1.2 Practitioners’ perceptions, experiences and current practices .............................................. 37
4.2 Factors that influence the roles of parents in parental involvement ............................................ 39
4.2.1 Parents’ responses to the roles of parents in parental involvement ...................................... 39
4.2.2 Practitioners’ responses to factors which prevent parental involvement ............................. 40
4.3 The extent of parental involvement ............................................................................................ 42
4.3.1 Parents’ responses to the extent of parental involvement .................................................... 42
4.3.2 Practitioners’ responses to the extent of parental involvement ............................................ 44
4.4 Comparison between practitioners and parents’ responses about parental involvement ............ 46
4.4.1 Benefits on parental involvement ........................................................................................ 46
4.4.2 Mode of communication ...................................................................................................... 46
4.4.3 Perception of respondents on professionalism ..................................................................... 47
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4.4.4 Contributing factors to parental involvement ...................................................................... 47
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................... 49
5.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 49
5.1 Roles of parents in parental involvement .................................................................................... 49
5.2 Factors determining parental involvement .................................................................................. 51
5.3 The extent of parental involvement ............................................................................................ 53
5.4 Similarities in responses ............................................................................................................. 54
5.5 Inconsistencies in the study ........................................................................................................ 57
5.6 Other findings that contribute to the study .................................................................................. 58
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................... 59
6.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 59
6.1 Conclusions from the study ........................................................................................................ 59
6.2 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 60
6.3 Implications for future research .................................................................................................. 61
6.4 Limitations to the study .............................................................................................................. 62
6.5 Final reflection ............................................................................................................................ 63
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 64
APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................................... 73

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory of development ................................................. 6

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Background of participating practitioners .............................................................................. 27
Table 2: General information on families and their children in the early years .................................... 28
Table 3: Highest rank ordered factors indicating importance of parental involvement ........................ 36
Table 4: Reasons for parental involvement .......................................................................................... 36
Table 5: Roles of parents in parental involvement ............................................................................... 37
Table 6: Factors which prevent parental involvement ......................................................................... 40
Table 7: Opportunities for parental involvement ................................................................................. 43
Table 8: Extent and frequency of parental involvement ...................................................................... 43

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