Introduction.
Parental involvement entails the act of parents taking full responsibility of their children’s education from home to school. Parental involvement is the most powerful influence in a child’s education especially in pastoralist communities, where education is given the last position in one’s life. Among the pastoralist communities, parental involvement can be a very crucial aspect of every child’s education which can influence student’s academics and change of behaviour.
Considering the pastoralism aspect of moving from one place to another, parent’s involvement in education will determine whether a child will enrol in school or not.
Different types of involvements connect to specific student outcomes. The more the parent is in touch with the child’s education progress, the more the courage a child grows towards success. (Epstein in Richardson, 2009).
Levels of parental involvement.
The ongoing participation of a parent or primary caregiver in the education of his or her child takes various levels as the child continues to develop. Every parent is always involved in the education of their children starting from home to school. This is opposite in pastoralist communities. Parents excuse themselves on the grounds of their lifestyle of moving from place to place in search of pastures and water for their animals. But should this be the best reason of not taking part in children’s education?
In the modern society, many parents wish to be more involved with their children’s schoolwork and want to receive more information and assistance from schools, but many of our schools have a problem with establishing connections with families. How then will children grow from one education level to another if the parental aim is not met?
The pastoralist communities too need to sensitized on the importance of taking charge of child’s education. The parent’s level of involvement starts from elementary, primary and up to tertiary. Active parental involvement in their children’s education declines the older the children becomes, (Richardson, 2009).
For instance, parents of elementary school students are more likely to be involved with their children’s education than parents of students in middle school or junior high school.
As Per Richardson (2009), it is crucial for schools to establish and maintain a good and positive relationship with parents. It is also essential that the schools clarify for parents the importance for them to stay involved and participate in their children’s education.
How a school can engage parents from pastoralist communities.
To enhance educational achievement of students from pastoralist communities, educators need to scrutinise possibilities to develop and form partnerships with parents through Parent–school communication. According to Sheldon (2009), such a partnership is essential especially in secondary schools, where parents often lack the confidence in their ability to assist their children with the curriculum.
Sanders and Sheldon (2009) agree that, the school is the major influencing factor of parental involvement especially in pastrol communities where parents have no time with their children going to school.
As per Sheldon (2009), factors such as parental role construction, time, energy and skills rest with families, while other factors, such as age, academic needs and temperament rest with students. Still other factors rest with schools, such as experience, professional knowledge and resources.
The extent of parental involvement depends, among other things, on how frequently the school approaches parents (Glasgow and Whitney, 2009).
The more frequently the school reaches out, the more involved parents become especially by parent’s days in schools. This will give an opportunity to parents from pastrol communities to reach children in schools even if they might be far at times.
The school leadership is also instrumental in establishing and developing a partnership between homes and the school, for instance, by creating opportunities for joint activities for all concerned and thus lead the efforts of the grassroots towards a partnership (Price-Mitchell, 2009).
Establishing and fostering a teacher-parent relationship is essential to the development of schools as learning communities. School climate is closely connected with how involved parents are with their child’s education (Sheridan, 2001). The more welcome parents feel at school and the easier the school makes it for them to be involved, the more likely the parents are to be actively involved with their children’s education. Thus, it is vital that the school should be instrumental in establishing a connection with families, encouraging and talking about what schooling and education entails.
Recruiting volunteers.
One way to increase parental involvement is for the school to recruit volunteers (Sanders ,2009). By volunteering, parents and the community can observe children in a school environment and that way learn how they can better assist them to achieve in school. Also, by volunteering, they express their value of education.
Volunteerism can lead to several benefits such as increasing family participation, increasing families’ awareness of school rules and processes, and creating opportunities for impromptu informal interactions between homes and schools. (Epstein in Richardson, 2009),
Parental involvement.
In what ways, should a responsible parent be involved in the education of their children? This is a very vital question that will guide us in enumerating ways in which every willing parent should act. There are many ways these can be achieved.
Parents support towards education.
When a parent is aware of the roles and can make efforts towards their children’s success, they should do so without hesitating, for example by making education priority, and checking on whatsoever concerns the child’s study environment and even around the child’s locality away from school.
This can be done through; Making home a better study environment where parents read to their children at home, parent’s habits to read to their children and children reading to them forms a study and reading culture which will form the wholeness of the child in academic field, since the child will improve on vocabularies and increase the speed on reading. Sheldon, (2009). Parents’ support and interest for reading continues to be an important factor in young people’s academic development through high school. But in the cases of pastrol communities, parents should give children enough time just for school activities and not mixing roles while at home.
Home routines and homework
Many consider the school to be a home for teachers and pupils alike, does this perception disqualifies the real home where a child is brought up? No I don’t think so, we all come from homes and as parents we know what best works at home and at what time. By ensuring that there are rules and guidelines to help the child stick to school work and be done on time especially the home works and helping the child when they are stuck. Assisting with homework, and having regular discussions about school or school work with their child. In addition, it is important for parents to convey their expectations to their child’s education.
Activities like nature walks. This activity refreshes the child and makes them relax and enjoy every moment. Get a walk with them after school and let them explore nature. Hunting could be a very nice nature walk with a pastrol parent, give the child time to interact with nature.
Praising and dialogue about education. Give praise when it is necessary and let your children realize that you value their efforts and you appreciate them by giving prizes too.
Students whose parents have high educational expectations for
their children, discuss with their children their school, future and monitor their homework, have a tendency to earn a higher grade in languages and to score higher in reading achievement tests. (Sanders and Sheldon, 2009). Pastoralist should give equal chances to educate both the boy child and girl child.
Impacts of parental involvement in their children’s education.
Consistent school attendance
Almost all pastoralist communities like Samburu, turkana, pokot and rendile, have children missing schools for almost a month and this is not good in the child’s progress. Immediately Parents get concerned about their children whereabouts, monitor student’s discussions with their children about school, volunteer at school and being members of a parent-teacher association. This improves students’ school attendance, thus giving them more opportunities to learn.
They will feel their parents’ involvement and expectations are highly effective and influential in their education. Moreover, students who feel their parents’ support for their education and have good communication are more likely to continue their studies past high school.
There is a connection between literary resources in the homes and children’s reading skills Children who come from reading oriented homes, where books are readily available to them and their parents are avid readers, tend to score higher on reading achievement tests than children from less reading oriented homes. It also affects their literacy skills to have their parents read to them. Thus, parents can have positive effects on their children’s reading skills and boost their reading comprehension by reading to them and making sure there are always books available. (Glasgow and Whitney, 2009).
Although teachers and schools have significant influences on children’s learning to read in the first grades, parents remain very influential. Parental involvement in children’s education appears to continue to positively affect the reading achievement and academic development of students well into primary school, secondary school and even high school (Sheldon, 2009).
Both parents and schools are important variables in establishing and maintaining a good strong relationship throughout children’s school years. Good reading skills and reading comprehension affects student achievements in other subjects as well, since reading is fundamental in almost all subjects.
Improved performance and excellent achievements.
Parental involvement affects achievement in core subjects such as reading, mathematics and science. It is evident that, parental involvement affects children’s academic achievements, and particularly those children that are at risk subjects. Studies have revealed that; parental involvement is connected to how students perceive the subject. Parents need to make time to talk with their children about studies, and have confidence in their ability in the subjects. Sanders and Sheldon (2009).
Behaviour.
Children’s behaviour, both in school and out of school, is also closely related to the family dynamics and their home environment. Therefore, the goal of many schools is to improve student behaviour by focusing on a partnership program with parents (Sanders and Sheldon, 2009).
Focusing on such a partnership may, in addition, help to improve their academic achievement. Thus, better behaviour of students help to improve their academic achievement (Sheldon, 2009). Good behaviour among students, is one of the major benefits of parental involvement. This brings the notion of co-operation of the school, parents and the community to work together in monitoring students’ progress and this will reduce problematic behaviours thus improving learning in school. (Richardson 2009).
Attitude
According to (George and Kaplan in Sanders and Sheldon, 2009), they claim that parents play a considerable role in the development of their children’s attitude towards science. By engaging in science activities at home and by taking their children to visit museums and libraries they help their children to develop a positive attitude towards the subject. Also, the children from pastoralist communities will change attitude from a don’t care attitude to a care attitude towards education.
Parental involvement is also important for students’ social and emotional development Students who have parents that are involved in their education have a higher motivation to achieve in school and at higher level of school engagement. (Sanders and Sheldon, 2009).
Conclusion.
Parental involvement has a positive effect on academic achievements and non-academic outcomes of the student in school such as; school attendance, student behaviour in school, student attitudes towards school, and their social skills. (Richardson 2009).
It can be concluded that, for students to succeed in school, they need the support and encouragement from their parents. The key factor to get parents involved, is to have an inviting school climate, where parents are frequently invited to be involved at school and where parents perceive themselves to be welcomed. Therefore, school personnel need to establish a trusting relationship with parents and to regard them as partners in their children’s education. Such relationship influences how parents become involved in their children’s education and reinforces their willingness to be actively involved. (Richardson 2009).
Since there is so much at stake, it must be considered essential for schools to build a bridge between schools and homes, where parents feel welcomed, valued and trusted by teachers. Teachers need to build a strong and trusting relationship with parents. It will be much more likely for parents to become actively involved with their children’s education, if the school cultivates a rich and inviting atmosphere at school.
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