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UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA
THE ROLE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN SOLICITING PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN HULU LANGAT DISTRICT
JENNIFER WEE BENG NEO
FPP 1995 6
THE ROLE OF PR IMARY SCHOOLS IN SOLIC ITING PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN HULU LANGAT DISTRICT
BY
JENNIFER WEE BENG NEO
Thes i s Submi t t ed i n Partial Ful f i lment of t he Requi rements f or the Degree of Master of Sci ence
in the Facul ty of Educationa l Studi es Universi t i Pertanian Mal aysia
Apri l 1 9 9 5
DEDI CAif IOIf
Specia l l y For:
Mum and Dad,
brothers and sister,
Deices and nephews,
and
DeeLala.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Pra i s e and G l ory t o God the A l might y for gi ving me
t h i s o pp o r t un i t y t o p u r s u e t h i s M a s t e r o f S c i e n c e
degree i n Uni vers i t i Pert anian Ma l ay s i a. H e has been
my pi l l a r o f s t r eng th and my r e f uge t h r oughout t h e
c ours e o f my s t udy .
My hea r t f e l t gra t i tude and apprec i a t i on go t o :
Members o f my Supe rvi so ry C ommi t t e e : Associ a t e
Professor Dr. Sha r i f ah Mohd N o r f o r mot ivat ing me t o
p u r s u e m y M a s t e r s d e g r e e , f o r g u i d i ng m e i n t h e
f ormul at i on of my ins t rument, i n the pres ent at i on of
d a t a and t h e s i s w r i t i ng; A s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r D r .
Kama r i ah Ha j i Abu Bakar f o r he r encouragement, support
and i n s i ghtfu l i nput; and D r . Zaka r i a Kas a f o r h i s
guidance, frui t f u l comments and a s s i s t ance especi a l l y
i n the c ompu tat i on o f r e l iabi l i t y c o e f f i c i ents and
edi t o r i a l work .
D r . Kals om raeza h M o h amed w h o was my i n i t i a l
adv i s er unt i l she went on l eave .
Encik Abdu l A z i z Bahs i r f o r hi s encouragement and
support.
i i i
Professor Allan A. Glatthorn, a friend and a
p rofessor at East Car o l ina Uni versi t y , for ret r i eving
r e s o u r c e s un a v a i l a b l e i n M a l a y s i a , a n d f o r h i s
cont inuous encouragement , support and guidance in my
thesi s wri ting .
Dr . Joyce L . Eps tein o f John Hopkins Univers i t y
Center on Pami l i es , Communi t i es , Schoo l s and Chi l dr en ' s
Learning , and Dr . El l en B. Go l dring of Vanderbi l t
University f o r s ending me the rel ated i ns t ruments and
resources .
The Di s t r ict Educat i on Of f ic e r o f Hu l u L angat
dist rict , Tuan Haji Aris Haji Abdu l Mo en, f o r his
practical hel p and advice i n carrying out the survey.
M y p a n e l o f exp e r t s , D r . L e o An n M e an, D r .
Zul kifl i Abdul Mana f , Tuan Haji Aris Haji Abdul Moen,
Encik Ismai l Haji Abd . Ari s, Enci k Abd. Manan Simpol ,
Puan Hajjah Hami dah M ohd Zin , and Puan Fa r i dah Anum
Tajuddin for val idat ing my inst ruments.
My panel of t rans l ators , Puan Si t i Saripah , Puan
Roslin , Encik Henry and Encik Ahmad Yuso££ Buyong.
Al l my respondent s , headma s t er s and t each e r s of
the school s s tudi ed in Hul u Langat dis tri ct .
My f ri ends, Linda f o r her ass i s t ance i n the dat a
ana l ysi s and thesis wri ting and Sue and Param jeet for
thei r mora l support .
iv
The Ministry of Education f or providing me w ith
the s cholarship .
Las t but not l east, someone special , DeeLala,
for his patience , encouragement , support and affection.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION i i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . i i i
L I ST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . xi
LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . ... . x i i i
ABSTRACT . " " • . . " ... " . . """""." .... " . . " ... ".,, xi v
ABSTRAK xvi i
CHAPTER Page
I INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
statement of the Prob l em . . . . .. . . . . . 7
Ob jectives o f the Study . . . . . ... . ... 9
Research Quest i ons . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . 9
Signi fi cance of the Study . . . . . . . . . . 1 1
Limi t a t i ons o f the Study ... . ...... . 1 3
Operat i on a l Defini t i on o f Terms . . . . . 1 4
II REVIEW OP RELATED LITERATURE
The Concept of Ro l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6
The Concept o f Parent Inv o l vement 19
The Types of Parent Invo l vement in School s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . 20
Bas i c Ob l igat i ons of Fami l i es . ...... . . . . .. . ....... 2 2
vi
Page
Basic Obligat ions of School s • . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4
Parent Invol vement at School s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Parent Involvement in Learning Acti vities at Home 2 9
Parent Invol vement in Decision Making, Governance and Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The Extent of Parent Involvement in Schools . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Fami l y-School Partnerships . . . . • . . . . 36
Constraints and Barriers to Parent Invol vement • • . . • . . . . . . . . . . . • 40
Atti tudes, Abilities and Experi ences of Parents . . . . . . . 4 0
At titudes, Know l edge and Ski l l s of Teachers and Headmasters . . . . . . . ........... 41
Constraints of Work and Poor Health . . • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . 42
Diverse Lingui stic and Cultural Practices . . . . . . ..... 43
The Rol e of 2rimary School s in Parent ,Invol vement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The Rol e of Headmasters in Parent Invol vement . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
The Headmast er as Initiator . . . . 46 The Headmast er as Facil itator... 48 The Headmast er as Manager ...... 49
The Role of Teachers in Parent Invol vement • • • • • . • • . • • . • . . . . . . . . . . . 51
The Teachers as Initiators . . . . . 51 The Teachers as Facil itators . . . 53 The Teachers as Communicators 53
Perceptions of Headmasters and Teachers on their Roles in Sol i cit ing Parent Involvement . . . . . . 54
vii
Page
Models of Pa rent Invo lvement . ... . . . 56 The Fami ly-Impac t Model ..... ... 57 The School-Impa c t Model ........ 58 Collaborati on Model ............ 58 Chi ld-Centred Model ............ 59 Partnershi p Model .............. 59
S ult'\ll\a r y • • . . . . . . • . • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Conc eptual Framewo rk . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . 62
III METHODOLOGY
Desig n o f the study .... . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,..... 64
Instr umenta ti on . .. . . . . ..... ........ 65 Vali dati on o f Instruments....... 68 Reli abi li ty of Instr uments ..... 68
Data Collec ti on Pr oc edures .... ..... 69
Data Analy si s . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
IV ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Pr ofi le of the Respondents
Fi ndi ng s a nd Discussion of
72
the stud y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 79
Types o f Activit ies Orga nised by the Schools' PIBGs . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 79
Types o f Parent Invo lvement Ac ti v i ti es . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . . . . . . . 83
Basi c Obli gati ons o f rami 1 i es . . . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
vi i i
Page
Basic Obligations of Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Parent Involvemen t at S chools . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Parent I nvolvement in Learning Activities at Home . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3
Parent I nvolvement in Decision Making , Governance and Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 6
The E x tent o f Parent Involvemen t 101
Const raint s and Barriers to Parent I nvolvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Per ceptions of Headmasters on their Roles in Soliciting Parent I nvolvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... III
The Headmasters as Initiators . . 112 The Headmasters as Facilitat ors . 114 The Headmas ters as Manage rs 116
Perceptions of Teachers on their Roles in Soliciting Parent I nv olvement . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The Teache rs as I ni tiators . . . . . 118 The Teachers as Pacilitators . . . 121 The Teachers as Communicators 123
Perceptions of Headm asters on the Desired Extent o f Parent Involvement in the Primary Schoo l s . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Perceptions of Teachers on the Desired Extent of Paren t Involvement in the P rimary Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
v SUMMARY, IMPL ICATIONS AND CONCLUS ION
Summary of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ix
132
Page
Implications of the Findings . . . . . . . 136 Implications on S chQ�ls . . ... ... 136 Implication s on Teach e r
Education . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 139 Implications on Mini s t ry
of Education .. . . . . . .......... 141
Recomm endations f or Further R es earch . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . 142
Conclusion .. . . . . ... . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . 143
BI BLI OGRAPHY 144
APPElfDICES
A
B
C
D
Lis t of Sampl es . .................. .
Questi onnai re f or H eadmasters . . . . . .
Questi onnair e f or T eache rs
Translation of Ins t rumen t s : Panel of Translat ors ..... . ........ . .... . .
155
156
167
178
E Validation of Ins trument s : Panel
F
G
of Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 179
Lett e r of Approval f r om EPRD . ..... . 180
L e t t e r of Approval f rom Selangor Education Departm en t 181
VITA . . . . . . . • . • . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
x
'lable
1
2
LIS'!' OP TABLES
Mode l s of Parent Invo l v ement . . . .. . .
Sex of Respondents . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . .
Page
60
7 3
3 Academi c Qua l i f i ca t i ons o f
4
Respondents . . . . • . . . • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Age of Respondents . . . . . . . . ........ . 75
5 Years of Te aching of Respondents . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6 Years of Experi enc e as
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Headmasters . . • • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Years of Experi enc e as Headmas t ers in Pres ent Schoo l s
Types of Act i viti es Organi s ed by the Schoo l s ' P I BGs . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bas i c Ob l igati ons of Famili es ..... .
Bas i c Obligat i ons o f Schoo l s . . . . . • .
Parent Invol vement at Schoo l s ... . . .
Parent I nv o l v ement i n Learning Activities at Home . . . . . . . . ........ .
Parent I nv o l vement in Deci s i on Making, Governance and Advocacy . . . . .
The Extent of Parent Involvement
Constraints and Barriers to Parent Inv o l vement ................ .
Percepti ons o f He adma s t ers as I ni t i a t ors . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . .
xi
78
80
86
88
91
95
97
103
109
1 1 3
1 7
18
LIS'!' OF '!'ABLES
Percept i ons of Headmas ters as Faci l i tators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Percept i ons of Headmas ters as Manage rs ....... ... . . . .......... ,. .. . .
1 9 Percepti ons o f Teachers
Page
1 1 5
117
as I ni ti ators . . . . . . .. . ... . . .. . . . . . . 120
20 Percept i ons of Teachers as Fac i l i tators . . . . . .. . . . ....... ... 122
21 Perceptions of Teachers as Communi cators . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . 124
22
23
Percep t i ons of Headmasters on the Desi red Extent of Parent Invol vement . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .
Percepti ons of Teachers on the Desi red Extent of Parent Invol vement . . .. . . . . . I " I I • • I
xii
126
129
Pigure
1
LIST OP P IGURES
Model of School's Role in So l i c i ting Parent Involvement
xiii
Page
6 3
Abs t ract o f thes is submi t t ed t o the Sena t e of Universiti Per t anian Mal aysia in partia l f u l fil ment o�
t he requi rement s for the deg ree of Mas t e r of Sc i ence .
THE ROLE OP PRIMARY SCHOOLS I N SOL I C I T ING PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN HULU LANGAT D I STR I CT
By
JENNI PER WEE BENG NEO
Apri l 1 9 95
Chairman : Ass oci ate Profess o r Dr. Shari fah Mohd Nor
!"acuIty: Pacu l t y of Educational Stud i es
This e xp l o r a t o r y s t ud y e x ami n e d t h e r o l e o f
prima ry s chool s in s oliciting parent inv o l vement i n the
Hul u Lanqat dis t ri c t . The, ".c() l e of primary s choo l s was
i d e n t ifi e d v i a t h e t y p e s of p a r e n t i n v o l v em e nt
a c t iviti e s o r g a n i s e d b y t h e s c h o o l s , a n d t h e
perceptions of headmast ers and teachers on t heir r o l es
in soliciting parent invol vement . The extent of parent
invol vement in the various activities; the cons t raints
and barriers faced by s choo l s; and t he percepti ons of
the headmasters and t eachers on the desired ext ent of
p.arent invol vement were al so e xamined .
P�opo rtionat e s t r atified c l us t e r s amp l ing was
:used .to s e l ect the subjects . Sarnp l e consisted of 119
x.iv
respondents which comprised 18 headmasters, 18 s e ni or
a s s i s t a nt s (HE M) a nd 83 te a c he r s w h o we r e PIBG
oommi t t e e m e mbe r s . Two s e t s o f i n s t rumen t s we r e
em pl oyed. Des c r i pt i v e st at i st i cs usin g f r equ ency
counts and percent ages were used t o anal yse the data.
The fi nd i ngs o f the su rvey we re as f ol l ows: (1 )
The s chools s tudied differed in terms of the t ype of
and number of act i vi t i es or gani s ed by t hei r P IBG; ( 2)
1'he s chools play ed a "mod e ra t e " r ole in s oli ci t ing
pa r e nt i nv olv eme nt; (3) T h e e x t e n t of pa r e nt
involve me nt a s pe r ce iv e d b y t he he a dm a s t e r s a n d
t eachers was fo und t o be < a > " poor" in classrooms and
no n-c la s s r oom ac t i v i t i e s , (b) " m o d e r a t e" i n
a ct i v it i e s a s s oci a t ed w i t h home l e a rn i n g, an d (c )
" g o o d" i n o t h e r s c h o o l s u p p o r t ac tivi ti e s; ( 4)
Parent s were p ercei ved t o be the main obs tacle and t he
s ch o o l s ... t he s e c o n d a r y b a r r i e r s t o p a r e n t
invol vement; (5) Most headmasters perceived thei r r ol es
as i n i ti ators , facilitators and manage rs in s olici ting
p a rent i n v ol vement; ( 6) Majo r it y of t he teache r s
perceived themselves t o be initiato rs , f acil i t ators ,
and communi cat ors, but there wer e s ome who disag reed t o
the above roles i n s oli cit ing paren t inv ol vemen t; (7)
Both t he headmast ers and teachers encour aged parent
xv
invol vement in out-of-school a ct i vi ti es but no t i n
s chool-based manageme nt, employme nt of teachers a nd in
cur r i culum developme nt.
The fi ndings s ugges ted tha t schools should play a
greater role i n s o l i ci ting pa rent invol vement in the
education of thei r chi ldren.
xvi
Abstrak tesis yang dikemukakan kepada Senat Universiti Pertanian Ma l aysia sebagai memenuhi sebahagian daripada
keperl uan untuk Ijazah Master Sains.
PERANAN SEKOLAH RENDAH DALAM PENGLIBATAN IBU BAPA DI DAERAH HULU LANGAT
O l eh
JENNIFER WEE BENG NEO
APRIL 1995
Pengerusi: Profesor Madya Dr. Sharif ah Mohd Nor
Fakulti: Fakulti Pengajian Pendidikan
Kajian ini merupakan satu kajian penerokaan untuk
mel ihat peranan sekol ah rendah dal am pengl ibatan ibu
bapa di daerah Hulu Langat. Peranan sekolah rendah
dikenalpasti m e l a lui jenis-je nis a k t ivi t i yan g
dikendalikan oleh sekolah rendah, dan melalui persepsi
guru besar dan guru-guru mengenai peranan mereka dalam
penglibatan ibu bapa. Kajian ini juga melihat tahap
pengl ibatan ibu bapa dalam pelbagai aktiviti, halangan
dan kekangan yang dihadapi o l eh sekolah dan persepsi
guru besar d a n guru-guru t en t a ng sejauh manak ah
penglibatan ibu bapa di sekolah rendah.
xvii
Su bjek dipi l ih m en g iku t k a e d ah p e r s am p e l an
'proportionat e stratified clust er . ' Sampe l mengandungi
119 responden yang terd i r i daripada 18 guru besar, 18
p en o l ong kan an (HEM) dan 83 gu ru yang menganggotai
J aw a t anku a s a PIBG . Dua set inst rumen di gunakan.
Statistik deskriptif menggunakan kiraan frekuensi dan
peratusan digunakan dalam menganalisakan data.
Hasil ka jian ada l ah seperti berikut: (1) S ekolah
yan g dikaji b e r b eza d a ri s egi j en i s d an bilang an
aktiviti yan g dikendal ikan o l eh P I BG s eko l ah; ( 2)
S ek olah m emainkan p e r an an y an g s ed e rhan a d al am
penglibatan ibu bapa; (3) P ersepsi gu ru besar dan gu ru
gu ru m eng en ai s e j auh m an akah p en g l i bat a n ibu bapa
ada l ah ( a) " l emah" dalarn aktiviti bilik darjah dan luar
bi l ik dar j ah; ( b ) "sede rhana" dalam aktiviti yang
berkaitan dengan pembelajaran di rumah; dan (c) "baik"
d a l am aktiviti soko n g a n sekolah; (4) Ib u b apa
dipersepsikan sebagai hal angan yang utama dan sekol ah
sebaqai halangan sekunder kepada penglibatan ibu bapa;
(5) Kebanyakan gu ru besar mempersepsikan peranan mereka
se bagai inisi a t o r, f as i li t a t o r d an p enqurus dalam
penglibatan ibu bapa; ( 6) Majoriti daripada guru-guru
memp er s�psikan p e r an an m e r eka s e b a g a i i nis i a to r I
f asilitator dan komunikat or tetapi t erdapat sebilangan
xvi i i
keci 1 yang tidak setuju mengenai peranan mereka i tu.
(7) Kedua-dua guru besar dan guru-guru menggalakkan
penglibatan ibu bapa dalam aktiviti luar sekolah tetapi
tidak mengizinkan penglibatan mereka dalam pengurusan
sekolah, pemilihan dan pengambilan guru-guru dan
perkembangan kurikulum.
Dapatan kajian mencadangkan bahawa sekolah perlu
memainkan peranan yang lebih dalam menggalakkan
penglib�tan ibu bapa dalam pendidikan anak mereka.
xix
CBAP'l'ER I
IN'l'RODUCTIOH
Background of the study
Three background factors which provide the
context of this study are: (a) a continuing interest
to improve the educational system in Malaysia, (b) a
growing body of research underscores the importance of
parent involvement in the schools as a key element of
such improvement, and (c) headmasters and teachers play
key roles in fostering such invol vernent. The above
factors are important in understanding the role of
p r i rna r y s c h 00 I s vis - a - vis the t y pes 0 f par e n t
involvement activities and the headmasters' and
teachers' perceptions of their roles.
First, there is a continuing interest to improve
the educational system in Mal aysia. There have been
efforts to improve the school situations in order to
attain the highest quality education and to achieve
zero-defect in our education. If we look at our
co�temporary schools,
are not problem-free.
it is observed that our schools
They are encumbered with many
1
2
such as drug probl ems, current social probl ems,
d e l i nquency , d i s c i p l i ne , fail ures in e xami nation ,
It can be argued that s chool s 'bohsia! and vanda l ism.
wi l l not b e a b l e to p e rform th eir r o l e towa r d the
accompl ishment of highest qua l i ty education and zero
defect , if the s chool environments are saturated with
the s e socia l p rob l ems. The s chool s cannot work in
isol ation and they need the support of others in the
exte rna l envi ronments , e s pe cia l l y the famil ies , to
execute their rol e s effe ctive l y . The fami l y is a
cri ti cal institution in this regard , and parents are
t e a c h e r s to th e i r c hi l d r en . Ha l l ing e r et a l .
(1992), Bevi ose (1984) and Epstein and Becker (1982)
state that s chool s need the support and cooperation of
fami l i es i n i mprovi ng the chil dren ' s education . When
teachers and fami 1 ies share common goa l s and work
together, the goa l s can be achi eved most effecti vel y
(Epstein , 1987 a) .
The fami l y i s an i mportant i nstitution in the
society . The primary rol e of famil y is to attend to
the basic needs of the chil dren at home . However , the
famil y r egards the s chool s as custodians to their
c hi l d r en . P a r en t s e xp e c t s c h o o l s to s hou l d e r
caretaking respons i bil ities and educate thei r chil dren
duri ng the day, when they a r e busy at work (Hus en ,
1993; Swan and Nixon , 1992; Hoy and Miske l , 1982) .
3
Schoo l s and fami l ies have a l ways been per f o rmi ng
the i r ro les separate l y . When the s choo l s and f ami l ies
work wi th divergent approaches to 1 earning and 1 i fe ,
they are adhering tight l y t o the concept o f "sepa rate
respons ibi l i t ies" of ins t i t ut i ons p roposed by Oswa l d
e t a l , ( 1 9 88 ) w h i c h a s s ume s t h a t t h e s c h o o l
bureaucracies and the f ami l y ins t i t ut i ons are di rec t ed
by educators and f ami l ies whose di f fe rent goa l s , r o l es ,
and respons i bi l i t ies a re bes t fu l f i l l ed independent l y .
( Epstei�. 1987a ) .
The a s s ump t i on o f "sepa r a t e res p on s i bi l i t i es"
m a i n t a i n ed b y o u r e d u c a t i o n s y s t em i s no l o ng e r
feas i b l e i f we p l an t o achieve our nat i on ' s educa t i on a l
goa l of achieving highes t qua l i t y educat i on and ze ro
defect s ta tus by t he yea r 2020. The re f o re I t he f i rs t
s tep that mus t be t aken i s f o r the s choo l and f ami l y
o r ga n i s a t i o n s t o a b a n d o n t he i r c o n c e p t o f
" i ndi v i dua l i s m" and t o move t ow a r d t he c oncept o f
"partnership" in provi ding the children with the s oc i a l
and psychoeduca t i ona l deve l opment and growt h . There i s
a need for a paradigm shi f t in the s choo l s yst ems
whereby the concept of "sepa rate respons ibi I ti es"
mus t be transformed i n t o "shared respons ibi 1 i t i es , "
whi ch assumes that scho o l s and f ami l i es share
4
responsibility and accountability in providing the
social and psychoeducationa l needs of the chi l dren .
The second background f actor t o be considered i s
based on a g rowi ng body o f research underscoring the
importance of parent i nvo l vement in the school s as a
key e l ement of such imp rovement . I n the Uni t ed st ates,
af t e r t h e p ub l i cat i on o f A Na t i on A t Risk by t he
National Commission on Exce l l ence i n Educat ion ( 1 983 ) ,
t h e f o cus o f t h e e d u c a t i on s y s t em i s c e n t r e d on
col l aborat ion between the schoo l and home . Many parent
i nvol vement p rogrammes , such as Fo l l ow Through and
T i t l e I P r og r amm es , emphas i s e t he i mpo r t a n c e a n d
benef i ts of parent i nvo l vement in schoo l s. Research
have a l so exp l ained the importance of co l l aborat ion
between educators and parents in chi l dren ' s educat ion
(Epst e i n , 1 992, 1 987 , 1 986; Comer and H a ynes , 1 991;
Barth, 1 990; E l more, 1 990; st evenson and Baker , 1 987 ;
Henderson , 1 98 7 ; Pul l an , 1 985; Wal berg , 1 984; Epst ein
and Becke r , 1 98 2 ) . In addi t i on, t h e i mportan c e of
pa rent partici pa tion in the chi l d ren's education has
b e e n h i gh l i g h t e d i n t h e l i t e ra t u r e o f e f f e c t i v e
schoo l s ( Levine and Lezot te , 1 990; St edman , 1 987 ; C l a rk
et a l ., 1 980 ) : i n the l i t erature of school improvement
(Li eberman and M i l l e r , 1990 ; Weind l ing , 1989; Ful l an,
1 98 5 ) ; a n d a l s o i n a c c e l e r a t e d s c hoo l s f i n d i n g s
( Hop f enberg et a l . , 1993 ) .
5
In l ight o f this evi dence , the success of pa rent
invo l vement in the chi ldren's education in the Unit ed
s t a t e s i s p r i ma r i l y d u e t o t h e home-s c hool
partnerships . That being the case, can our Ma laysian
schoo l s recognis e pa r ent inv o l v ement as one of t h e
s a l i en t c o mp o n en t s i n c h i l d r en's e d uc a t i on a n d
devel opment? How can schoo l s s o l ici t pa rents t o b e
inv o l ved and how can pa r en t s par ticipa t e in t hei r
chi l d r en's l e a rning ac t i v i t i es to o p t imis e t he i r
per formance?
Based on the above empirica l evidence showing the
importance o f home-school partnershi ps, our Ma l ays i an
sch o o l s n e e d t o chang e t h e i r t r adi t i on a l mode o f
operations and deve l op new appr oaches in carry ing out
thei r r o l es. Jones ( 1 9 8 8 ) indica t e s that school s
need to deve l op a di f f erent mode l and a di f f erent way
o f working . A partnership mode l that emphas i s es parent
i n v o l v emen t i n schoo l s i s po s i t e d to b e t he mos t
app ropriate, conv i nc i ng and reliable so lut i on . The
above s tatement is supported by Dav id ( 1 98 4 ) who not e
that mos t e d uc a t o r s and p a r en t s a g r e e t h a t p a r en t
invo l vement appears t o b e t he acceptab l e way to enhance
children's educat i ona l success .
