ABSTRACT
Over the recent years, parental participation in their children’s education has been centre of focus at different fora including research. More studies have been done in relation to parental level of participation and how they influence with their children’s education but limited studies have focused on how parents’ socio-economic variables contribute positively to their participation in pre-school children’s education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of parents’ socio-economic status, education, occupation and income) on their level of participation (communication, decision making and collaboration) in pre-school children’s education. Strategies used by schools to enhance parental level of participation in their children’s pre- school education were also investigated. The study was guided by Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation and Epstein “model” of parental participation. A descriptive survey design was employed. All preschool teachers and parents in Kayole Zone, Nairobi county were targeted of which sample size was obtained. A simple random sampling procedure was used to get 35 pre-school teachers and 120 parents. Questionnaires for preschool teachers and interview schedules for parents were data collection instruments. Validity and reliability was established during the pilot study in two schools, where a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.8 was obtained to check the consistency of results. Data was analyzed using frequencies, descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to show the association (p<0.05 at 95 % confidence level) and their effect on outcome variables. Results show that parental level of education and income had positive association with their level of participation in pre-schools. Parents with higher level of education have relative higher level of parental participation in pre-schools. Parents’ occupation was however found to be unrelated to the level of parents’ participation in their children’s preschool education. The study concluded that education, occupation and income of parents have influence on their participation in preschool education of their children. Enhancing education levels, increasing income levels and creating employment opportunities for parents will boost their level of participation in preschool education of their children. Further research, a more specific study needs to be carried out focusing on other factors such as childhood nutrition, primary health care, gender mainstreaming, forceful migration relate to preschool education in Kayole and other places in Kenya.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT OF THE STUDY
Introduction
This chapter describes the study background, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions and significance of the study. Limitations and delimitations, assumptions, theoretical and conceptual framework as well as the operational definition of terms are also presented.
Background to the Study
Parents have a vital role to play in the life of a child. Parents’ participation in their children’s education has been shown to be an important variable that positively influences children’s education (Epstein, 1997). More and more schools are therefore appreciating this importance and are encouraging families to get involved. As a result of this recent trend, it has become essential to understand what is meant by parent participation and in what ways it has an influence on children’s education. According to Epstein (1997) children learn and grow through three overlapping spheres of influence: family, school and community. These three spheres must form partnerships to best meet the needs of the child. Epstein defined six types of involvement based on the relationships between the family, school and community. They include: parenting, communicating with the school in relation to the child, volunteering as resource person providing labor to the school and supporting children education programs such as drama, music and educational trips. Parents may also assist children in learning at home for example in doing homework as well as decision making and collaborating with school in such areas as provision of resources.
Studies have shown that parental participation has positive effects on their children’s education, families and school, when parents continuously support and encourage their children, they learn better, develop self-esteem, become more self- disciplined, and show higher aspiration and motivation towards school (Epstein, 2003).A study done in Dandora Educational Zone of Nairobi County (Ondieki, 2012) showed that the various pre-school activities that parents participate in including attending meetings, communicating with the school, and volunteering influence the academic performance of their pre-school children. Further, it revealed that parents who are more confident in their parenting and decision –making skills, gain more knowledge of their children’s development. They use more of affection and positive reinforcement and are less punitive towards their children.
Unfortunately, parents are limited from participating effectively in their children’s learning by a number of factors. Many parents` personal school experiences for instance create obstacles to school involvement. Those who dropped out of school because of school related reasons for example do not feel confident in school settings. Thus, such parents have very little involvement in their children’s school work. As Baumania (1991) established, such parents provide basic needs like food and shelter; but are not involved in their children’s lives. They show little warmth, love and affection towards their children, have fewer expectations or demands on behavior and offer little or no supervision. Their children on the other hand develop fear, anxiety or stress due to lack of family support. Consequently, children from families whose parents do not participate in their education generally perform poorly in nearly every area of life. These children tend to display deficits in cognition, attachment, emotional skills and social skills (Moccaby 1992).
Anecdotes from the Nairobi County Government education office 2012 show that parents’ socio economic status greatly affect their participation in the pre- school activities such as meetings, academic days and talents day. The document records demonstrate that parents from higher socio economic backgrounds attend pre- school children`s activities in greater numbers than those from the low socio-economic positions. This may be a pointer to the situation of the more endowed parents understanding the essence of investing their time in the growth and development of the pre- school children. On the other hand most of the parents from low socio- economic positions may not understand the essence of dedicating themselves and investing their time in the development of their pre-primary school children. Nairobi county education journal (2012) this is because they are busy fending for their families and the struggle in trying to get means to put food on their tables. It was therefore necessary to find out whether there is a relationship between level of income and parents participation, or apparent relationship were attributable to other factors that were not part of the study.
A study done in Uasin Gishu by Koech (2009) documented strategies used by teachers and Ministry of Education officials in Kenya to strengthen parental participation in preschool education include: sending letters, organizing workshops on transition, holding parents teachers meetings, sending information to the teachers through DICECE officers, organizing for sensitization meetings, organizing academic days, open visits by parents, using class representatives among others. In addition, study did not focus on strategies that could enhance parents and community participation in the preschool education. Therefore, the study aimed at establishing influence of parent’s socio-economic status on their participation in their children‘s preschool education.
A pre-survey in the study area which is Kayole Education Zone has exposed profound situations of poverty and low economic capacities D.E.O Kayole office journal (2014). Acknowledging this situation, the Nairobi county government observed that the low socio-economic status of these parents, risked their pre- school children not realizing their education to their full potential. This study therefore sought to find out whether the parental socio-economic status in Kayole affects their participation in their children’s pre- school education.
Statement of the Problem
The role of parental involvement in their pre- school children’s education cannot be over-emphasized. Parents play a critical role in modeling their children’s ensuring effective communication between them and the pre- school and identifying the critical needs as regards their children’s academic requirements. A study done in Thika District revealed that there was low parental and community participation in pre- school activities in four of Epstein’ six modes of involvement: Communication, volunteering, decision-making and community collaboration. The levels of participation were found to be attributable to rural-urban settings and pre-school sponsorships. School in rural settings, and those that were privately sponsored recorded higher participation, though in different models. The rural schools, parents were involved more in decision-making and collaboration, while in private school recorded high communication mode. It is, however not clear, whether these modes are related to the social-economic level of parents. The findings may also not be generalized to Kayole because it is a slum location and has different characteristic from those studies in Thika. Study showed that there was a significant difference between parents’ level of education and parental level of involvement in parenting,
learning at home, communication and decision-making modes. Although documented parental involvement in all of the six Epstein modes of involvement, it only focused on Uasin Gishu County and only focused on levels of parental involvement and parent-teacher partnership. Thus, the studies in Kenya have not given much attention to the influence of parental socio-economic status on preschool children’s education. Furthermore documented strategies being used to encourage parents and teacher partnership and enhance pre-school education in Uasin Gishu and not in the entire Nation. Thus, his findings cannot be generalized to all pre-schools in Kenya and therefore the need for study.
