PARENTAL INVOLVEMENTS, SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES IN THE PROMOTION OF FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate parental involvement, successes, and challenges in the promotion of family life education.
To carry out the research, a descriptive survey design was chosen. The investigator designed an instrument to collect data for the study. One hundred and fifty subjects completed the questionnaires that were distributed to them.
Frequency counts, percentages, and t-test statistical techniques were used in data analysis. The findings revealed that parents’ involvement in family life education is a contributor to the promotion of family life education’s success, parents’
occupational status is a contributor to parents’ involvement in family life education, the majority of respondents believe that students can be successful academically despite adverse family conditions, parents, whether single parents or parents of intact homes, understand the importance of family life education and thus p
It was suggested that education with a clear understanding of their school families should encourage the emergence of a definition of parenting involvement that would recognize a wide range of parental behaviors intended to support academic success, and that there is a need to introduce and broaden traditional population education to include topics such as reproductive health, the status of women intergenerational relationships, and problem solving skills in adolescence.
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
It is not a new concept to prepare individuals and families for the roles and responsibilities of family life. Because knowledge about human development, interpersonal relationships, and family life is not innate, societies have had to devise methods for passing on the wisdom and experience of family life from one generation to the next.
Some societies pass on their knowledge through formal channels, such as puberty initiation rites. Individuals learn about family living in the family setting most of the time, as they observe and participate in family activities and interactions in their own and other families.
As societies evolve and become more complex, this pattern of informal learning about family life becomes insufficient.
The development of new knowledge, technological advances, and changing social and economic conditions create a situation in which previous generation’s teaching is no longer appropriate or sufficient. In this situation, societies must devise or invent new methods of preparing individuals for their family roles and responsibilities. Family Life Education is one of these novel approaches.
According to Clark (2003), when parents and families become personally involved in education, their children perform better in school and grow up to be more successful in life. According to Clark, parental involvement encompasses a wide range of activities. Some parents have the time to participate in a variety of activities, while others may only have time for one or two.
According to Aluede (2000), the earlier in a child’s educational process that parent involvement in family life education begins, the stronger the effects. The most effective forms of parent involvement involve parents directly working with their children on learning at home. Parents can participate in family life education by ensuring their children’s better school attendance, increased motivation, and improved self-esteem.
Despite the fact that most parents do not know how to help their children with their education, with their guidance and support, they may become increasingly involved in home learning activities and find themselves with opportunities to teach, model, and guide their children. Uwakwe found that parental involvement in education was twice as predictive of academic success as family socioeconomic status (2000).
When schools encourage children to read at home with their parents, they make significant gains in reading achievement when compared to those who only practice at school. The more involved parents are, the more beneficial the achievement effects are.
Reading to their children, having books available, taking trips, guiding TV viewing, and providing stimulating experiences all contribute to student achievement. The more parents who participate in family life education on a consistent basis, at all levels—advocacy, decision-making and oversight roles, and as home teachers—the better for children’s success.
The society is primarily dependent on the family institution for the production of children, who constitute the society’s young members. Furthermore, the family is viewed as the primary agent of socialization, where the norms and values of a society are internalized by the new members of the society, which are children, through teaching, behavioral patterns, and ways of life. Furthermore, the family provides basic necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, education, and so on.
According to Arqqawal (1981), “it is the home, not the school, that determines the quality of the direction of any child’s life, and that teacher’s work is fulfilled or destroyed by the operation, for good or ill, this major factor in any child’s education.” (On page 19)
Children from unstable homes have less adaptability to school situations, less initiative, and a lower level of emotional self-control, according to writers such as Adeyemo (1998) and Akinboye (2000). The level of anxiety at home, as well as the pattern of parental communication with children, may have an impact on learning. For example, a child who is frequently upset due to parental disagreements is at risk of lower levels of educational achievement (Krohn and Bogan, 2001).
Infants whose parents lack warmth and stability and fail to provide educational stimulation (e.g., teaching their child new words) are at risk of developing learning and emotional problems (Werner and Smith, 1992: 24). Infants who are neglected may develop health and developmental problems (Kenpe and Goldbloom, 1997:312).
A study of young people from low-income black homes with varying family structures was conducted.
Clark (1993) discovers that parents of high academic achievers establish firm but not harsh rules, seek information about their children’s academic progress, improve literacy skills through activities such as reading and word games, and model an optimistic assertive attitude toward life.
Clark’s study found that two-parent and single-parent families with these characteristics had higher achieving students, while two-parent and single-parent families without these characteristics had lower achieving students. Similarly,
Goldenberg (1999) describes how assertive parental involvement can have a significant impact on student achievement. In Goldenberg’s case study, the children who improved their reading skills received encouragement and/or home tutoring from their parents.
Preparing individuals and families for the roles and responsibilities of family living is not a new concept. Because relationships and family living are not innate, societies have needed to devise methods for passing on the wisdom and experience of family living from one operation to the next.
Some societies pass on this knowledge formally, through puberty or initiation rites. Individuals learn about family living in the family setting most of the time, as they observe and participate in family activities and interactions in their own and other families (Aluede, 2002).
This pattern of informal learning in families becomes insufficient as societies change and become more complex. The development of new knowledge, advances in technology, and changing social and economic conditions create a situation in which previous generations’ teaching is no longer appropriate or sufficient.
In these circumstances, societies must find or create new ways to prepare individuals for their family roles and responsibilities. One of these novel approaches is family life education (Alueze and Ikechukwu, 2002).
The desire for Nigeria to be a free, just, and democratic society, a land full of opportunities for all its citizens, capable of generating a great and dynamic economy, and growing into a united and self-sufficient nation, cannot be overstated; to achieve these goals, education in Nigeria is a premier instrument for effective national development. Education is a federal ministry (2004).
With the changes in society, every child wishes to become a millionaire in a single day. It appears that the majority of children in this country are finding it difficult to focus on their studies. According to the Good Community Committee (1995), the seed of academic underachievement in children has been ingested since childhood. Many children lack self-esteem, self-discipline, and the ability to deal with problems in constructive ways, or have any appreciation for the importance of skills required for learning.
In other words, it appears that the causes of academic achievement among youths are numerous, complex, and interconnected. Single-parenthood, poverty, youth violence (crime), drug problem, school instability, and rebellion were identified as causes of children’s underachievement in schools by the Good Community Committee (1995) and Schewertz (1995).
According to Sewel (2000), among many other reasons for student dropouts are disliking school, being suspended, or being expelled. Other reasons include economic reasons and the family’s socioeconomic status. Influence from friends who are also school dropouts, as well as personal factors such as pregnancy for females Furthermore, school dropouts had lower grades, more disciplinary problems, and a lower rate of completion of home work externalized sense control.
When children fail their promotion exams, they often prefer to go farming and obtain or acquire plots of land to plant cocoa and become cocoa farmers. During the cocoa season in such parts of South-West Nigeria, children and parents frequently ask, ‘Oga teacher, how much is your salary?’ Your salary will be paid by two kilos (Kilogrammes) of cocoa. This local syndrome could be to blame for student dropouts in many rural areas.
With the emergence of commercial motorcycling known as Okada, the dropout rate appears to be highest among boys. Some boys also become bus drivers or illegal timber contractors known as ‘Payabayaba.’
According to Ayodele (2007), there was a case of a male student who was arrested for social ills (stealing), and during interrogation, he stated that he dropped out of school because his school fees were not paid, and his mother gave birth to nine children for nine different fathers.
According to Ayodele, a study of some female students revealed that when they fail in school or their fees are not paid, they appear to experience fear, anxiety, inferiority complex, and guilt among their peers, which appears to give them some psychological problems. This causes female children to engage in pre-marital sex and rush into marriage.
Related: The Impact of Guidance and Counseling Services on Academic Achievement and the Transition Rate
According to Owuamanam (2002), some people marry when they don’t have enough money to pay school fees or take care of their children’s needs.
Another issue that has been observed to be prevalent among female children is the issue of regular meeting. When some female students see their drop-out friends wearing expensive clothes and having babies, the next thing they do is imitate their colleagues so that they, too, can dress like friends and look nice among their peer groups, which usually results in the termination of their academic career.
It appears that if parents are not educationally oriented, their interest in their children’s education may suffer. According to Adaba (2001), parents do not encourage their female children’s education because they believe that investing money in their education will be a waste when they marry because they will lose their family’s name and the husband’s family will reap the benefits of their labor.
Adaba also stated that some parents were unable to pay school fees or provide necessary materials for their children, which contributed to their underachievement in school. According to Alonge (2003), some parents are harsh and wicked to their children if they do not perform well or fail their exams.
In another development, children who do not have a stable family life and have negative school experiences may become school dropouts.
The true influence of a child’s background on achievement can be estimated more accurately if one considers those family characteristics-parental values and pressure on the child to succeed, as well as the child’s own efforts and perceived efficacy-that appear to operate independently of convectional aspects of class (for the few countries where these factors have been studied) and better indicators of material and social aspects of class.
The national desire for Nigeria to be a free, just, and democratic society, a land full of opportunities for all its citizens capable of producing a great and dynamic economy and growing into a united and self-sufficient nation, is an important indicator of the role education plays in the polity.
To achieve these objectives, education in Nigeria is a superior tool for effective national development, according to the Federal Ministry of Education (2004). With the changes in society, every child wishes to become a millionaire in a single day. It appears that the majority of children in this country are finding it difficult to focus on their studies. According to the Good Community Committee (1995), the seed of academic underachievement in children has been ingested since childhood. Many children lack self-esteem, self-discipline, and the ability to deal with problems.
This context highlights the importance of focusing on the current study, which sought to explain parental involvement, successes, and challenges in the promotion of family life education.
1.2 Problem description
This study will look at parental involvement, successes, and challenges in promoting family life education.
1.3 The study’s objectives
The study’s main goal is to investigate the various activities that parents engage in that have an impact on their children. Other specific goals include:
To investigate parents’ involvement in the promotion of family life education.
To assess the level of family success in promoting family life education.
To assess the issues affecting family life education.
To determine the extent to which parents’ educational levels influence their involvement in Family Life Education.
To ascertain the extent to which family size influences the success of family life education.
To investigate whether parents’ occupational status influences their involvement in family life education.
To determine whether or not incidents of family separation and divorce have a negative or positive impact on the success of family life education.
1.4 Research concerns
To guide the research, the following questions are posed.
1. To what extent would parental participation in family education promote the success of family life education?
2. To what extent does a parent’s occupation influence their involvement in family life education?
3. To what extent does the educational level of parents influence their involvement in family life education?
4. To what extent does the size of a family (small or large) influence participation in family life education?
5. To what extent does a home’s family status (intact or non-intact) influence family life education?
6. To what extent would the five independent variables (parental involvement in education, parents’ occupational status, parents’ educational level, family size, and family status) promote the success of Family Life Education when taken together?
1.5 Proposal
At the 0.05 level of significance, the following hypotheses will be tested:
i. There is no statistically significant difference in the opinions of parents of adolescent children from single parenting homes and those from intact homes regarding the promotion of family life education.
ii. There is no statistically significant difference in the views of male and female parents from intact homes on the promotion of family life education.
iii. There is no significant difference in Christian and Muslim parents’ perspectives on the success of family life education.
iv. There is no significant difference in male and female adolescent perceptions of the challenges of family life education.
1.6 Importance of the Research
The findings of this study would serve as a foundation for effective promotion of Family Life Education.
The study would help to educate parents about the importance of knowing and understanding the effects of a child’s home environment on his or her academic performance. It would also inform the adolescent about the factors that influence their academic performance in school.
It will also raise awareness among decision-making bodies and even teachers about the issues confronting secondary school teaching and learning in terms of the identified variables.
It would necessitate the need for schools to provide a conducive environment for interaction between teachers and parents through Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meetings.
It will raise awareness among parents after Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meetings about the need for parents to provide necessary facilities for their children’s use in schools.
This study will provide an opportunity and forum for discussion about how home climate setups can either enhance or hinder parental involvement in family life education.
Through this research, practical solutions to the unfavorable home climate will be proposed in order to assist the youth in living in a good and conducive home environment that will ensure high quality education, performance, and attainment.
This study will be used as a reference work and a jumping off point for future researchers interested in the extent to which the identified variables (parental involvement success and challenges) promote family life education.
The study’s findings are expected to provide an empirical foundation for advising governments, policymakers, administrators, teachers, and other education system stakeholders on how to promote family life education.
The research will serve as the foundation for creating a more effective pedagogical theory for promoting family life education.
1.7 The study’s scope
This study looked at the ‘successes and challenges of parental involvement in the promotion of family life education.’ The study was conducted in a number of public and private institutions in the Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria.
1.8 The study’s limitations
1 A major limitation of the study is the small size of the sample to be used. A larger sample size would provide more insight into the variables associated with the promotion of family life education.
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