Content area
Abstract
Parental involvement in children’s education is an integral component of young children’s academic achievement. In the Philippines, a developing country with high rates of poverty and input deficit in basic education, school dropout rates are high especially among the poor. Given that many children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not get enough support (PIDS, 2012) and many parents are not equipped with skills to support their children’s education, it is essential to investigate how Filipino parents can help and contribute to their children’s academic success. In response to the lack of parental involvement literature situated in the Philippine context, the present study employed a phenomenological approach to explore and examine the experiences of low-income parents regarding their involvement in their children’s education. This study is guided by the following research questions: (a) What is the meaning and nature of parental involvement among low-income Filipino families? (b) What factors facilitate or hinder parental involvement, and (c) Will any pattern emerge from the data to describe the relations between parental involvement and children’s academic outcome?
Data analysis showed that Filipino parents believe that helping their children with schoolwork, motivating them, and providing structure at home help their children succeed in school, consistent with the extant literature on parental involvement. However, responses regarding academic socialization, communicating with teachers, and volunteering in school reflect cultural beliefs and practices in the Philippines related to traditional parenting, extreme poverty. Results from this study expand the extant research on parental involvement, which is mostly Western-based, and further our understanding of the generalizability of existing theories on parental involvement. Findings have implications for how Filipino parents and educators can support the academic success of children. Finally, this study can help inform educators and school programmers on how to help parents support their children’s education.
