- Title: Should parents be involved in their children’s schooling?
- Authors: Grolnick and Pomerantz
- Access the original paper here
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Paper summary
The provided text is an academic article exploring the complex relationship between parental involvement and children’s academic success. The authors review existing research, noting conflicting findings on whether parental involvement benefits or harms student outcomes. They argue that the type and quality of parental involvement are crucial, emphasizing the importance of autonomy-supportive and positive interactions over controlling or negative ones. Specifically, assisting with homework is highlighted as an area where parental involvement often negatively impacts students unless done constructively. Finally, the article offers recommendations for educators to foster optimal parental support by reducing pressure and improving communication.
What are the key implications for teachers in the classroom?
The sources offer a number of key implications for teachers in the classroom regarding parent involvement in children’s schooling. Teachers should:
- Focus on fostering positive relationships with parents and creating a positive school climate. When parents perceive a positive school climate with effective communication, they are more likely to provide autonomy and competence support when helping with homework. Positive family-school partnerships decrease pressure on parents, leading to more flexibility in the learning process. This may help parents feel more effective in supporting children, leading to more autonomy-supportive and positive involvement, especially with homework.
- Communicate with parents about effective homework assistance strategies, framing suggestions in a non-pressuring manner. Teachers can offer tips as strategies that some parents find helpful rather than directives.
- Reduce pressure on parents and children related to homework. Teachers can move away from traditional homework assignments toward assignments that encourage exploration and emphasize the learning process over the final outcome. Teachers can explicitly tell parents that children are expected to turn in homework, but answers don’t have to be correct. Teachers can also convey that parent involvement in homework is not required, but they are welcome to assist if they choose to.
- Consider additional strategies to reduce parent pressure during remote learning. Teachers should strive for clear and open communication with parents and provide opportunities for parent input.
The sources also emphasize the importance of the quality of parent involvement. Autonomy-supportive and affectively positive involvement is more likely to have positive effects, while controlling and affectively negative involvement can have negative effects. This is particularly relevant in the context of homework, where pressure is often high.
Teachers play a crucial role in shaping parent involvement to best support children’s motivation, engagement, and academic achievement.
Quote
In sum, parent involvement can be a useful and important tool to help facilitate children’s academic adjustment. However, consideration must be given to the type of involvement, (e.g., whether parents are assisting with homework or discussing school with children), the quality of involvement (e.g., whether it is autonomy supportive or controlling), and what contributes to the quality of parent involvement.
