The Benefits of Parental Involvement in School

Studies have shown that involving parents in the school setting is mostly linked with improved behavior, regular attendance and positive attitudes. In addition, while parents and guardians are being involved in certain activities demonstrates to their children that they actually care about their performance in education and schooling. Also, parental involvement aids in developing a network where children receive support when needed, which is important when they face certain academic difficulties and other challenges when it comes to establishing relationships as well as involving oneself in extra-curricular activities.

For parents, this may also mean that they are keeping tabs of their children’s educational journey, their achievements, and the areas which require further development along the way. In fact, all of these factors can help the children themselves appreciate and understand the vital importance of education, while they gather the sense of purpose with the help of their parents. When parents and guardian’s frequent other settings that the children’s attend in the community, they need to make sure that the out-of-school activities are constructive which can essentially help their children perform better in school. As a result of, children whose parents stay involved are more likely to have higher self-esteem, be disciplined, have more self-motivation and tend to achieve better grades, regardless of their ethnic, social or racial backgrounds.

Further research has shown that when schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more (Henderson and Mapp, 2002, pg. 215). In fact, when the community engages with families in ways that improve learning and support parent involvement at home and school, students make greater gains. Also, when schools try to build partnerships with families that take into consideration, act upon, and share decisions with parents, they are able to sustain connections that are aimed at improving student achievement.

The actual process of being a parent is not a stable and static stage, but is constantly and effectively changing and adapting to new developments that are particularly sensitive to their children's own learning and maturing process. As parents become actively involved in such activities, they acquire new schemas and knowledge on various dimensions of their own learning, which is subject to their capacities, while beginning to explore new competencies previously unthinkable (Camilleri, 2004). It is essential to look at parental involvement initiatives and activities, which are organized by the SMT, as adult learning experiences in their own right, where they learn and teach their children according to the knowledge that they have gathered. If the parents' lifelong learning needs are also addressed, we can make sure that learning is enhanced to its full potential. This, in fact, will benefit both the parents and the children who are exposed to this type of learning.