Challenges and Strategies of Parental Engagement among Secondary School Learners in Sheema District, Uganda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47672/ajep.1375Keywords:
Parental engagement, academic performance, predictor, secondary schoolAbstract
Purpose: The study investigated challenges and strategies of parental engagement (PE) with respect to students’ academic performance (SAP) in Sheema District, South Western Uganda.
Methodology: The study employed qualitative approach using interpretative phenomenological approach of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Participants of the study included purposively selected head teachers, deputy head teachers, directors of studies, chairpersons and treasurers of both Parents Teachers Associations (PTA) and Boards of Governors (BOG) of ten government grant-aided USE schools (GGAUSES) in the District. Using thematic analysis, various themes and sub-themes of PE issues and methods were derived from qualitative data.
Findings: The challenges of parental engagement in learners' academic activities in government grant-aided USE schools in Sheema District generated three themes: Home environment-related challenges (HERC), school environment-related challenges (SERC), and government-related challenges (GRC). Each of these generated several subthemes. The strategies for overcoming the parental engagement challenges included social and economic tactics, leadership and management strategies as well as legislation and regulation.
Recommendation: The study recommend a deliberate move on the part of key stakeholders to enhance parental engagement through abating its challenges be emphasised and that will foster learners’ academic performance.
Downloads
References
Amin, M. E. (2005). Social Science Research: Conception, Methodology and Analysis. University of Yaounde I, BP 755 Yaounde Cameroon and Makerere University.
Hornby, G. (2011). Parental involvement in childhood education: Building effective school family partnerships. Springer Science & Business Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1- 4419-8379-4
Jeynes, W. H. (2007). The relationship between parental involvement and urban secondary school student academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Urban Education, 42(1), 82-110.
Azumah, F. D., Samuel, K., & Onzaberigu, N. J. (2018). Effects of family structure on the academic performance of children: a case study of Ayeduase R/C Junior High School in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana, International Journal of Social Science Studies. 6 (10) (2018) 11e22, https://doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v6i10.3643.
Bell, J., Waters, S., & Ebooks Corporation. (2014). Doing your research project: A guide for first-time researchers (Sixth ed.). Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
Chukwudi, O. C. (2013). Academic Performance of Secondary School Students-The effects of Home Environment. Ibadan: Double Gist Publishers.
Crosnoe, R., Leventhal, T., Wirth, R. J., Pierce, K. M., Pianta, R. C., & NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2010). Family socioeconomic status and consistent environmental stimulation in early childhood. Child development, 81(3), 972-87.
Dettmers, S., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Kunter, M., & Baumert, J. (2010). Homework works, if homework quality is high: using multilevel modeling to predict the development of achievement in mathematics. J. Educ. Psychol. 102, 467–482. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018453
Durisic, M., & Bunijevac, M. (2017). Parental Involvement as an Important Factor for Successful Education. CEPS Journal, 7(3), 137–153.
Dweck, C. S. (2017). Mindset (2nd ed.). New York: Brown, Little Book Group.
Education Act 13 (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post-Primary) Act 2008.
Epstein, J. L. (2011). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools (2nd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Hancock, D. R. & Algozzine, B. (2017). Doing case study research: A practical guide for beginning researchers. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
Isola, O. M. (2010). Effects of Standardized and Improvised Instructional Materials Students’ Academic Achievements in Secondary School Physics. M. Ed Thesis, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
Kavenuke, P. (2013). What is it that keeps good teachers in the teaching profession: A reflection on teacher retention? SAVAP International, 4(1): 165-175.
Karue, N. & Amukowa, W. (2013). Analysis of factors that lead to poor performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary examination in Embu District in Kenya. The International Journal of Social Sciences, 13 (1), pp. 1 – 125
Komba, C.K., Hizza, E.L., & Jonathan,W.T.Y. (2013). Factors Influencing Academic Performance of Ward Secondary Schools: A Case of Selected Schools in Moshi Municipality and Moshi District. MUCCoBS Working Paper Series.
Lehrl, S., Evangelou, M., & Sammons, P. (2020). The home learning environment and its role in shaping children’s educational development, School Effectiveness and School Improvement. An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice 31:1, 1-6, https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2020.1693487
Mahlangu, V.P. (2014), The changing landscape in the conditions of service for teachers in South Africa, Journal of Social Science, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 69-178.
Maina, M. J. (2010). Strategies Employed by Secondary School Principals to Improve Academic Performance in Embu West District. Kenyatta University. Retrieved April 25, 2018 from http://irlibrary.ku.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/930/ Mwaura%2C%20Jame s%20Maina.pdf? Sequence=3.
Maganga, J. H. (2016). Factors Affecting Students’ Academic Performance: A Case of Public Secondary Schools in Ilala District, Dar es Salaam. Master’s thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.
McMillan, J.H., & Schumacher, S. (2010). Research in Education, Evidence-based research, Pearson, Boston.
Mistry, R. S., Benner, A. D., Biesanz, J. C., Clark, S. L., & Howes, C. (2010). Family and social risk, and parental investments during the early childhood years as predictors of low-income children’s school readiness outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(4), 432–449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.01.002
Mlozi, M. K. (2013). “Factors Influencing Students’ Academic Performance in Community and Government Built Secondary Schools in Tanzania”: International Journal of Science and Technology, Vol. 2 (2), 1-13.
Mugumya, D., Basheka, B., Mwesigye, R. A., Atibuni, D. Z., Aduwo, R. J., & Ahimbisibwe, E. K. (2022). Parents’ involvement and students’ academic performance in Ryakasinga centre for higher Education-Sheema District, Uganda. International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, 14(2), 79-86.
Myers-Young, S. (2018). "Understanding Parental Involvement". Integrated Studies. 178. Center for Adult and Regional Education. Murray State University. https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/bis437/178.
Oakes, J., Lipton, M., Anderson, L., & Stillman, J. (2015). Teaching to change the world. Routledge.
Oakes, J., Maier, A., & Daniel, J. (2017). Community schools: An evidence-based strategy for equitable school improvement. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center and Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.
Odama, S., & Ezati, B. A. (2017). Parents’ contributions towards education process and variations in school performance indices (SPI) in Uganda certificate of education (UCE) examinations in central and northern Uganda. Journal of Education & Social Policy, 4(2), 80-96.
Rose, E., Lehrl, S., Ebert, S., & Weinert, S. (2018). Long-term relations between children’s language, the home literacy environment, and socio-emotional development from ages 3 to 8. Early Education and Development, 29(3), 342–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2017.1409096
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Luo, R., McFadden, K. E., Bandel, E. T., & Vallotton, C. (2019). Early home learning environment predicts children’s 5th grade academic skills. Applied Developmental Science, 23(2), 153–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2017.1345634
Xu, M., Kushner-Benson, S., Mudrey-Camino, R., & Steiner, R. (2010). The relationship between parental involvement, self-regulated learning, and reading achievement of fifth graders: a path analysis using the ECLS-K database. Soc. Psychol. Educ. 13, 237–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-009-9104-4
Yeager, D. S., & Walton, G. M. (2011). Social-psychological interventions in education: They’re not magic. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 267–301.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Mugumya Duncans, Adrian R. Mwesigye, Ahimbisibwe Emmanuel Karoro
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
