Parental involvement [Elektronische Ressource] : a sine qua non in adolescents' educational achievement / vorgelegt von Kingsley Nyarko

Kingsley Nyarko

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• Publié par: ludwig-maximilians-universitat_munchen
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 39
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Parental Involvement: A Sine Qua Non in Adolescents’ Educational
Achievement










Inaugural-Dissertation
zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades
der Philosophie an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
München





Vorgelegt von
Kingsley Nyarko

aus
Ghana, December 2007
Referent: Prof. Dr. Sabine Walper
Korreferent: Prof. Dr. Beate Sodian
Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 31.1.2008

iDedication
This work is dedicated to my mom, Ernestina Wusuaa Somuaah, who in spite of her financial
restrictions worked assiduously to bring me this far in my educational endeavors. Mom, I straight from
my shoulder appreciate all that you have contributed in my life and ask for the blessings of God upon
your life. Kudos for a great work done!!!


iAcknowledgements
In ones quest to achieve a significant feat in their lives demands the efforts and contributions of
other individuals to act as catalysts to the realization of that feat. In that wise I would like to appreciate
the untiring contributions of certain persons who through their support, encouragement, and
motivation helped me to bring this project into fruition or reality.
First of all, this project could not have come to fruition without the help and invaluable support of
the Almighty God. To him is praise now and forever more, Amen. In addition, I would like to express
my deepest and profound gratitude to Professor Dr. Sabine Walper not only for her valuable
supervision and expert advice, but also for her continuous support, encouragement and motivation. I
am also indebted to Professor Dr. Beate Sodian and Prof. Dr. Thomas Eckert for being the second and
third readers of my thesis respectively. Thanks also go to Dr. Moritz Heene for his advice and
assistance on the statistical section of this project.
Special thanks also go to my wife- Adwoa Nyarko Antwi and children- Annabel and Elsie Nyarko
for their understanding and support during this critical moment in my educational career.
To Appau Amponsah, a dear friend and a master’s student at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana
who helped me with the administration of the questionnaire, I say thank you very much. I am also
thankful to Leslie Nkansah Osei-Bonsu for his assistance in formatting the project.
Thanks to all the teachers and students of University Practice Secondary School, Assin Manso
Secondary School, and Ghana National College who sacrificed their time and volunteered to take part
in the study.
Finally, I am grateful to my parents- Emmanuel Bamfo Nyarko and Ernestina Wusuah Somuaah for
their immense contributions in my educational career.

iiAbstract
This study was conducted in Ghana to investigate, (1) factors that predict parental involvement, (2) the
relationship between parental home and school involvement and the educational achievement of
adolescents, (3) the relationship between parental authoritativeness and the educational achievement of
adolescent students, (4) parental involvement serving as a mediator between their authoritativeness
and the educational achievement of the students, and (5) whether parental involvement decreases as
children reach adolescence. 239 students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds between the ages
of 15 and 20 as well as their teachers took part in the study. As expected, the results indicated a
positive and significant correlation between mothers and fathers’ home involvement and the academic
achievement of the students. Mothers’ school involvement, but not the fathers’ was also positively and
significantly correlated with the educational achievement of the students. However, with respect to
stepparents, grandparents, and other guardians, their home and school involvement activities were
found to be non-significant to the academic achievement of the students. Mothers’ occupational status
emerged as the best predictor of mothers’ home involvement followed by nature of school, mothers’
marital status, and program of study; whereas nature of school was the best predictor of mothers’
school involvement, followed by mothers’ occupational status, and program of study. Nature of school
was the only factor that predicted fathers’ home involvement. Furthermore, mothers and fathers’
authoritativeness were positively correlated with the students’ educational achievement whereas the
authoritativeness of stepparents, grandparents, and other guardians were not significantly correlated
with the school achievement of the students. Finally, parental involvement played a mediation role
between their authoritativeness and the educational achievement of the students. The findings
highlight the importance of parental involvement in adolescents’ school success.

iiiTable of Contents
Dedication................................................................................................................................................. i
Acknowledgements... ii
Abstract....................iii
Table of Contents..... iv
List of Tables.......... vii
List of Figures........viii
1 Introduction....... 1
1.1 The Role of Families in Children’s Schooling ........................................................................ 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem/A focus on Ghana........................................................................... 7
1.3 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................ 9
1.4 Overview of the Study ........................................................................................................... 10
2 Theoretical Background................................................................................................................. 12
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 12
2.2 Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory ...................................................................... 13
2.3 Structure of the Environment................................................................................................. 14
2.4 The Theory of Overlapping Spheres of Influence ................................................................. 17
2.5 Definition of Terms 22
3 Parental Involvement ..................................................................................................................... 24
3.1 Introduction and Overview .................................................................................................... 24
3.2 Who becomes Involved and Why.......................................................................................... 29
3.2.1 Parental beliefs and role construction............................................................................ 30
3.2.2 Social economic resources............................................................................................. 33
3.2.2.1 Family financial resources ......................................................................................... 33
3.2.2.2 Parents’ occupational status....................................................................................... 34
3.2.2.3 Parental education...................................................................................................... 36
3.2.3 Family structure ............................................................................................................. 37
3.2.4 Social networks.............................................................................................................. 39
3.2.5 Invitations by the School ............................................................................................... 41
3.2.6 Gender............................................................................................................................ 43
3.3 Parental Home Involvement .................................................................................................. 46
3.4 Parental Involvement in the School 49
3.5 Outcomes of Parental Involvement........................................................................................ 51
3.6 Parenting Styles ..................................................................................................................... 54
3.6.1 Parenting Styles and child outcomes ............................................................................. 56
3.6.2 Parenting Styles as Context for Parental Involvement .................................................. 61
4 Adolescence ................................................................................................................................... 66
4.1 Introduction 66
4.2 Adolescent Cognitive Development ...................................................................................... 67
4.3 Adolescent Learning Disabilities........................................................................................... 70
4.4 Adolescent-Parent Relationship............................................................................................. 71
5 The Ghanaian Educational System .............................................................