Family involvement and student learning: The roles of mother and father
Family involvement, precisely father and mother participation, in the education of a child has been a significant issue in the education realm. Most educators believe that their students would have been more successful if their parents were involved in key education practices. Ideally, parent involvement in the education of a child can be categorized into different practices that include parenting, communicating, community collaboration, and decision-making, learning at home and volunteering. Similarly, parent involvement is dynamic and depends on with the age of their children, with elementary scholars and teenagers showing unique learning capabilities when compared to their parent relationship. Given this, the paper will use different literature to discuss the impact of the parent-child relationship in the learning process of children.
First, according to Duchesne & Ratelle (2014) for adolescents, their attachment security to one of their parents impacts on their levels of depression. Considering that adolescent is a sensitive human development period, where children have to balance between hormonal changes and betterment of their education. As a result, the fast and swift metamorphoses they witness contribute to mental challenges such as depression, which in turn has a significant impact on their education. Using a longitudinal study of 414, Duchesne & Ratelle, (2014), identified four categories of depression symptoms among adolescents. The categories are moderate stable, low stable, moderate increasing, and high declining.
After controlling for anxiety symptoms, gender, and academic competence, the researchers found out that attachment security for adolescent formed a trajectory pattern starting from age 11 and plateauing at age 14. The results suggest that children with adequate security attachment to their parents registered high decreasing trajectory in terms of depression symptoms (Duchesne & Ratelle, 2014). Based on previous researches, Duchesne & Retell, (2014) confirm that the more the attachment security, the lower the depression symptoms. Practically, adolescents that have parents who are reassuring, open to communication and available to communication in time of distress can express their emotions in a better manner. Conversely, such adolescents do not resort to a maladaptive solution. Again, comparing with previous literature, the researcher agreed that teenagers tend to be more secure with their mothers than fathers. Overall, the sampled children showed high levels of depression between 11 and 12 years, with security attachment to parents a significant factor in reducing the symptoms. On the same note, only security attachment to the mother can be used to predict reduced trajectory symptoms of depression among the adolescents.
Secondly, Wiseman (2011) provides a different perspective on the topic by considering the impact of adolescent perception of parent involvement in school using a poetry program. The researchers used a qualitative ethnographic research design set in a coffee houses poetry observation. The study found out that life context of a family and family participation was critical in determining the parent involvement in the education of an adolescent. Wiseman (2011) concluded that for adolescents to perform better in their education there is a need to bridge the gap between home and school.
Based on the poetry writing program research Wiseman (2011), adolescent students said that quality relationship with their families is a significant source of support and strength. Using a case study of two students, Ashley and Sherie, the researcher came up with the importance of involving the family in the education of a student. For instance, Sherie who had her grandmother and father attend her poetry program in the coffeehouse was edited and felt significantly supported by her parents. Furthermore, she said that she was comfortable in sharing and disclosing her poetry class challenges to her family. Similarly, Ashley who invited her mother was thrilled and felt more support. Regarding, her coffeehouse experience, she said that she enjoyed sharing her poetry writing with her family, even beyond the classroom set up. However, one of the tutors that the already established relationship between Ashley and her family was evident in the interaction, which shows that she had valuable support and guidance on the same. On the contrary, Terrence and Taniqua, who did not invite their parents to the coffeehouse experience, illustrated the different family relationship between teenagers and their parents. The two respondents cited their reserved and shy nature as a reason for not inviting their families to the poetry program. Concisely, the findings of the exercise show that student and parent relationship outside school is instrumental in their confidence and desire to learn new things (Wiseman, 2011). Regarding the impact of mother and father on adolescent students, the study found out no significant difference in affecting the adolescents’ perception of their learning and education.
Thirdly, Al-Yagon, (2012), provided a different approach to the parent- child relationship learning by conducting learning disability assessment with the aim of understanding the socioemotional aspect challenges facing the students. The researcher used different socioemotional adjustments parameters such as affect, behavior syndrome, and loneliness. The researcher compared adolescents with typical development and those with Learning disability. According to the research findings, the hypothesize of significant difference between adolescents students suffering from learning disability and those not suffering from it was confirmed based on their scores on different socioemotional measures. Similarly, there was a significant difference between adolescents’ adjustment and adolescent mother attachment. On the same note, the reswr4caher noted consistency with the group tested for student and father attachment. Overall, there were more significant paths for the adolescent-mother than the adolescent father relationship. In other words, those students who were more secure with their parents demonstrated low-level confidence and were not adversely affected by critical socioemotional measures. By contrast, those who viewed themselves as secure with their fathers had significant paths regarding adverse effect.
Finally, (Al-Yagon, 2014) conducted research to examine the unique role of attachment of children with the mother and also with the mother to clarify the differences in internalizing certain features. Such features were the sense of coherence, loneliness, internalizing behavior syndrome and hope and effort among one hundred and seven children who had learning disabilities and ninety-eight children with typical development ages of eight to twelve. Preparatory examinations yielded imperative group contrasts on most measures. Structural equation modeling analysis reflected high to fit between empirical findings, the possible model and notable examples of relations among the components of the model for the two populaces (Al-Yagon, 2014). According to the hypothesis, child to father and child to mother connection contributed diversely to the internalizing features of the children
from the two subgroups. Discourse concentrated on comprehension of contemporary and unique roles of connection relations with mothers versus fathers among children with and without learning disabilities.
In view of the reasonable models proposed by earlier studies on the conceivable connections between the attachments of children with parents with consequent formative results the study investigated the independence model that assumed that all connection relations are
Similarly imperative yet each adds to advancement in particular realms. Notably, the research explored the one of a kind part of the attachment of children to the mother and with the father, in clarifying differences in the internalization of socioemotional modification that is SOC, loneliness internalizing behavior syndrome and hope and effort among youngsters with Learning Disability or potentially with standard advancement.
Generally speaking, the findings bolstered the hypothesis of the study, indicating that a high fit between the hypothetical model and the experimental discoveries (Al-Yagon, 2014). As estimated, findings demonstrated the one of a kind and integral part of children’s connection with the father and with the mother for clarifying children’s disguising factors, with an alternate example of relations between the model’s parts rising for the two populaces and also contrasts for the commitment of child to father connection versus child to mother connection.
The descriptive results plainly showed that children with learning disabilities demonstrated more internalizing challenges compared to their typically developing peers. Therefore, not surprisingly, the learning disabilities children as a gathering reported higher loneliness feelings, SOC lower levels, and minimized hope and effort levels compared to their counterparts with no LD (Al-Yagon, 2014). Those with LD were likewise evaluated by their parents as recording more elevated internalizing behavior challenges like anxiety, depression, and social contrast in comparison with the ratings of the parents with typically developed children.
References
Al-Yagon, M. a. (2012). Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: Socioemotional and Behavioral Functioning and Attachment Relationships with Fathers, Mothers, and Teachers. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 41(10), 1294-1311
Al-Yagon, M. a. (2014). Child-Mother and Child-Father Attachment Security: Links to Internalizing Adjustment among Children with Learning Disabilities. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 45(1), 119-131.
Duchesne, S. S., & Ratelle, C. (2014). Attachment Security to Mothers and Fathers and the Developmental Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: Which Parent for Which Trajectory? Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 43(4), 641-654. Doi: 10.1007/s10964-013-0029-z
Wiseman, A. a. (2011). Family Involvement for Adolescents in a Community Poetry Workshop: Influences of Parent Roles and Life Context Variables. School Community Journal, 21(2), 99-118.