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Parental Involvement and Intrinsic Motivation with Primary School Students
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
PSIWORLD 2014
Parental Involvement and Intrinsic Motivation with Primary School Students Mariela Pavalache-Iliea*, Felicia-Antonia ğîrdiab a a
Transilvania University, 29, Eroilor Blvd, Brasov, 500036, Romania Transilvania University, 29, Eroilor Blvd, Brasov, 500036, Romania
Abstract The interest that the parents show towards the evolution of their children and the assistance that they offer with the homework are among the predictors of academic success and of the adaptation to the school environment. The present study investigates the relationship between parental involvement towards the school (evaluated according to the frequency of interactions with the teacher and the teacher’s perception on the quality of this interaction), the intrinsic motivation for learning and the educational performance. The participants in the research are students in the 3rd and 4th grade and their teachers. The results confirm the hypothesis that school performance is significantly associated to the level of parental involvement and of intrinsic motivation. © 2015 2015The TheAuthors. Authors. Published Elsevier © Published by by Elsevier Ltd.Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of PSIWORLD2014. Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of PSIWORLD 2014. Keywords: parental involvement in relation with the school, intrinsic learning motivation, academic performance.
1. Introduction 1.1. Parental involvement in relation with the school Considering the fact that school dropout is more and more frequent in Romania, and the level of academic performance lowers dramatically (Voicu, 2010; Ministry of National Education Report, 2014), both teachers and officials are looking for the best solutions to solve these issues. Numerous research from around the world show that when schools and families work together as partners, the students are the main beneficiaries (Miedel & Reynolds,
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +0-407-211-7315 E-mail address:[email protected]
1877-0428 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of PSIWORLD 2014. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.03.113
608
Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
2000). The partnerships between schools and families support the teachers in performing their job, enhance the educational abilities of the students and contribute to the improvement of the curriculum and of the school climate. Furthermore, they determine the improvement of the educational and leadership abilities of the parents, they offer services and support to the families and they create a safer environment in schools (Agabrian & Millea, 2005). Parental involvement is defined as ‚the totality of strategies, actions and resources which the parents use during the tuition of their children in order to improve their chances to become successful from an educational and social point of view’(Hatos, 2004, pp. 114-115). Among the effective parental involvement strategies are exercising one’s part as a parent, communicating, volunteering, offering home support, decision making and collaborating with the community (Epstein, 1995, 2004). Among the factors which determine and influence parental involvement, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1997) mention the concept of active parental part, high self-effectiveness convictions, a welcoming school climate, requests coming from both teachers and from the chilld, the knowledge, abilities, time and energy of the parent. The socio-economical status and the educational level of the family can influence parental involvement, not necessarily at the level of the invlovement proper, but at the level in which it is manifested. The main educational actions undertaken by the parents even from the beginning of their children’s educational life are: communicating with the children, offering support in solving the homework, discussing the school activities and the educational progress (Albritton, Klotz & Robinson, 2003; Epstein, 2004; Henderson & Mapp, 2002); initiating and maintaining contact with the educational institution (Epstein, 2004; Henderson & Mapp, 2002); controlling the psychical and social environment of the child in order to ensure the academic success through the expectations of the parents, the attitude towards the learning process, the offered encouragements, the management of leisure time (Albritton et al., 2003; Epstein, 2004; Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005); the founding of extra-classes (inside or outside school) (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Parental involvement also includes volunteering and participating in the events organised by the school (Epstein, 2004; Henderson & Mapp, 2002); sharing their own experience in the domain of expertise as a guest of the class (Carlisle, Stanley, & Kemple, 2005); occupying decision-making positions inside the school (Carlisle et al., 2005); being enrolled in parental associations/organisations and in the parents’ council (Albritton et al., 2003; Epstein, 2004). Parental involvement positively influences the following variables: the mark average and the scores obtained in standardised tests, the enrollment of the students in challenging academic programs, the graduation of school cycles, the attendance of classess, the behaviour displayed at home and at school, the social abilities and the adaptation to the school environment (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Parental involvement is associated to motivation in its various aspects (Gonzalez DeHass, Willems & Doan Holbein, 2005). When the parents get involved,the children make more efforts to learn, they are more concentrated and attentive, more attracted towards the learning process and they think of themselves as being more competent (Izzo, Weissberg, Kasparow & Fendrich, 1999; Trusty & Lampe, 1997). Although homework assistance and the use of rewards for hjgh marks are correlated to extrinsic motivation, the encouragements and the praise are correlated to intrinsic motivation (Ames, deStefano, Watkins & Sheldon, 1995; Marchant, Paulson & Rothlisberg, 2001). The students whose parents get involved feel responsible for their own education. When the parents show vivid interest for the education of their children, the students are oriented towards excellence, they constantly look for challenges, they persevere in spite of difficulties and they show satisfaction towards the school tasks (Gonzalez, Doan Holbein & Quilter, 2002). When the parents get involved in the reading activities of the students, the students feel more effective, more motivated and they voluntarily take up reading (Adunyarittigun, 1997) 1.2. Research purpose and objectives The present correlational study pleads for the parents to play a more active part in the evolution of their children, primarily by consolidating a collaboration relationship with the teacher. The study has two objectives: (O1) to investigate the relationship between parental involvement and the intrinsic learning motivation for the primaryschool students; (O2) the identification of the relationship between parental involvement and the school results of students enrolled in the 3rd and the 4th grade. To this aim, the following hypotheses were formulated: H1. The level of parental involvement in the activity of the students is associated witht their intrinsic motivation
Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
609
H2. There is a connection between the educational results and parental involvement. H3. There are differences regarding the degree of involvement of Romanian parents and the degree of involvement of Rroma parents in the education of their children. 2. Methodology 2.1. Participants The population for this study included a convenience sample comprising students and teachers of elementary school. The research was conducted during the 2013-2014 school year in five schools in FăJăraú on a concenience sample comprising 231 3rd grade and 4th grade students (table 1) and 12 teachers of these students. 60,6% of the students are Romanians, the rest being Rroma. Table 1. Mean, standard deviations for pupils’ age. Grade 3rd 4th
Pupils 115 116
Mean 9,68 10,34
SD 1,08 0,56
Girls (N) 50 60
Mean 9,46 10,32
SD 0,80 0,62
Boys (N) 66 55
Mean 9,83 10,37
SD 1,65 0,48
60,6% of the students are Romanians, the rest being Rroma. 2.2. Instruments Starting from the wide variety of dimensions brought forward by the models of parental involvement (Eccles & Harold, 1996; Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994; Wong & Hughes, 2006), we have designed a 19 item scale focusing on the relationship between the teacher and the parent (10 items concerning mutual understanding, mutual aims, mutual expectations and respect) and the general involvement (9 items: ease of communication, volunteering, participating in school meetings and events); the teachers filled in the scale for each of the students. The 10-item alliance scale has a Cronbach alpha = .94, and for the second 9- item scale Cronbach alpha was .89. The answering format was a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The high scores represent a strong educational alliance between school and family and a high degree of involvement of the parents in relation with the teacher. The students completed the extrinsic motivation subscale (9 items) from the Elementary School Motivation Scale (ESMS), (Guay et al., 2010). The instrument measures the level of intrinsic motivation which refers to behaviours that are performed by choice because the individual judges them to be important, related to reading, writing and mathematics. The answering format was, anew, a 5-point likert-type scale. The students completed the scale at school, being guided by the teachers (the teachers explained the assignment and answered possible questions from the students). 3. Results H1. Table 2 presents the Pearson correlations between the parents’ involvement and the three components of the intrinsic motivation of the students for the entire sample and for the 3rd and 4th grade separately. Table 2. Pearson correlations for motivation and parents’ involvement.
Entire sample 3rd grade 4th grade *p<.05, **p<.01.
Alliance Parental involvement Alliance Parental involvement Alliance Parental involvement
Reading motivation .32** .44** .45** .46 ** .36**
Writing motivation .26** .40** .35** .42** .31**
Maths motivation .40** .53** .52** .56** .30** .50**
Intrinsic motivation .39** .56** .51** .57** .22* .48**
Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
610
The association relationship is more intense for the 3rd grade students, possibly because of their greater need to be assisted at this stage of their educational life. H2. The results confirm the existence of an intense correlation between the academic achievement and the parental involvement in the educational life of their children (table 3). Table 3. Pearson correlations for academic achievement and parents’ involvement.
Entire sample 3rd grade 4th grade
Alliance Parental involvement Alliance Parental involvement Alliance Parental involvement
Romanian Language average .60** .69** .67** .75** .53** .62**
Mathematics average .59** .64** .68** .68** .52** .61**
**p<.01.
Anew, the association relationship is more intense for the 3rd grade. H3. The T tests indicate that the parents of Rroma children get less involved in collaborating with the teacher and with the school t(114, 86)= 11,97, p < .001(Av romanian = 3.65, SD = .61; Av rroma = 2.53, SD = .68). No significant differences were registered between the 3rd and the 4th grade. 4. Discussion After the statistical analyses we are entitled to conclude that there is a significant association between the level of parental involvement and the level of intrinsic motivation for reading, writing and mathematics, as well as between parental involvement and the educational results of the students. The results confirm those obtained by other researchers who have concluded that parental involvement in school is a dynamic force influencing the students' academic success concerning reading achievement, mathematics achievement (Shaver & Walls, 1998) and the motivation to learn. Despite the fact that no similar studies were conducted in Romania, we can sustain, as Bernard (2004) did, that to militate for stimulating the parental involvement in school is an important component in early childhood education in order to help promote long-term effects, even for the academic success in high-school. The results of the current research confirm other studies conducted on other populations (Fan & Williams, 2010; Gonzalez et al., 2002 úi Gonzalez-DeHass et al., 2005), which emphasize the need of further investigations concerning the relationship between parental involvement and learning motivation. Even though at European level the need of empowering the families and the parents to support the education of their children is considered a priority (Final report. European Commission, 2013), schools have to develop approaches that enable parents to become a resource in their children’s learning. Parents who did not have access to education particularly need to be supported in their role to encourage and motivate young people to aim higher in their educational aspirations and achievements. For many pupils, parental involvement is important for gaining recognition, demonstrating and celebrating achievements, raising self-esteem and self-respect. The practical implication of this explanatory study targets the implementation of some partnership programs and activities involving the family and the school. The implementation should be done by the teacher. The long-term effectiveness could increase if these programs were not occasional, but the ideal consequence of the collaboration between the parents and the school in all the school actions and policies. One of the challenges is related to the need of developing programs suitable to the Rroma parents, whose presence in school (school meetings, celebrations) is very low and the assistence that they offer to their children in the educational process is modest or even inexistent. Based on the results of this study, one of the authors, which directly works with Rroma children has designed an
Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
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assistance program directed towards the parents of Rroma children, which is to take place mainly inside the community and to a lesser extent inside the school.
References Adunyarittigun, D. (1997). Effects of parent volunteer program upon students’ self-perception as readers. Extras din baza de date ERIC. Agabrian, M. & Millea, V. (2005). Parteneriate úcoală-familie-comunitate: studiu de caz. Iaúi: Institutul European. [Partnerships between school-family and community:a case study] Iaúi: The European Institute. Albritton, S., Klotz, J. & Robinson, T. (2003, november). Parents as teachers: Advancing parent involvement in a child’s education. Reseach presented during the annual Mid-South Educational Research Association, Biloxi, MS. Ames, C., deStefano L., Watkins, T. & Sheldon, S. (1995). Teachers’ school-to-home communications and parent involvement: The role of parent perceptions and beliefs. Baltimore, MD: Center on Families, Communities, Schools and Children’s Learning. Barnard, W.M. (2004). Parent involvement in elementary school and educational attainment. Children and Youth Services Review, 26(1), January 2004, 39–62. Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004).Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity.Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2), 107-128. Carlisle, E., Stanley, L. & Kemple, K. M. (2005). Opening doors: Understanding school and family influences on family involvement. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(3), 155-162. Eccles, J.S., & Harold, R.D. (1996). Family involvement in children’s and adolescents’ schooling. In: A. Booth, J.F. Dunn (eds.) Family school links: How do they affect educational outcomes? Mahwah: Erlbaum, pp. 3–34. Epstein, J. L. (2004). Meeting no child left behind requirements for family involvement. Middle Ground, 8(1), 14-17. Epstein, J.L. (1995). School/family/community partnerships: Caring for the children we share. Phi Delta Kappan. May, 701–712. Fan, W. & Williams, C. M. (2010). The effects of parental involvement on students’ academic self-efficacy, engagement and intrinsic motivation. Educational Psychology, 30(1), 53-74. Fantuzzo, J., McWayne, C., Perry, M.A., Childs, S. (2004). Multiple Dimensions of Family Involvement and Their Relations to Behavioral and Learning Competencies for Urban, Low-Income Children. School Psychology Review, 33(4), 467-480. Gonzalez, A., Doan Holbein, M. & Quilter, S. (2002). High school students’ goal orientations and their relationship to perceived parenting styles. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27, 450-470. Gonzalez-DeHass, A., Willems, P. & Doan Holbein, M. (2005). Examining the relationship between parental involvement and student motivation. Educational Psychology Review, 17(2), 99-123. Grolnick, W.S., & Slowiaczek, M.L. (1994). Parents' involvement in children's schooling: a multidimensional conceptualization and motivational model. Child Development, 65(1), 237-52. Guay, F., Chanal, J., Ratelle, C. F., Marsh, H. W., Larose, S. & Boivin, M. (2010). Intrinsic, identified and controlled types of motivation for school subjects in young elementary school children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(4), 711-735. Hatos, A. (2004). Economie, societate úi educaĠie. Temele principale ale sociologiei educaĠiei. [Economics, Society and Education]. The main Topics of the Sociology of Education. Oradea: Editura UniversităĠii. Henderson, A. T. & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family and community connections on student achievement. Annual synthesis. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V. & Sandler, H. M. (1997). Why do parents become involved in their children’s education? Review of Educational Research, 67(1), 3-42. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V. & Sandler, H. M. (2005). The social context of parental involvement: A path to enhanced achievement. Washington, DC: Institute of Educational Sciences (Final Report, OERI/IES Grant #R305T010673) Izzo, C. V., Weissberg, R. P., Kasprow, W. J. & Fendrich, M. (1999). A longitudinal assessment of teacher perceptions of parent involvement in children’s education and school performance. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6), 817-839. Marchant, G., Paulson, S.& Rothlisberg, B. (2001). Relations of middle school students’ perceptions of family and school contexts with academic achievement. Psychology in the Schools, 38(6), 505-519. Miedel, W. T., Reynolds, A. J. (1999). Parent involvement in early intervention for disadvantaged children: Does it matter? Journal of School Psychology, 37 (4), 379-402. Shaver, A.V. & Walls, R.T. (1998). Effect of Title I parent involvement on student reading and mathematics achievement. Journal of Research & Development in Education, Vol. 31(2), 1998, 90-97. Trusty, J. & Lampe, R.E. (1997). Relationship of high-school seniors’ perceptions of parental involvement and control to seniors’ locus of control. Journal of Counseling and Development, 75(5), 375-384. Vansteenkiste, M., Timmermans, T., Lens, W., Soenens, B., & Van den Broeck, A. (2008). Does extrinsic goal framing enhance extrinsic goaloriented individuals' learning and performance? An experimental test of the match perspective versus self-determination theory. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 387. Voicu, B. (coord.) (2010). SoluĠii eficiente pentru prevenirea abandonului úcolar: costuri úI mecanisme [Effective solutions for the Prevention of School Dropout: Costs and Mechanisms] UNICEF Project. Bucharest, Vanemonde. Wong, S. W. & Hughes, J. N. (2006). Ethnicity and language contributions to dimensions of parent involvement. School Psychology Review, 35(4), 645-662.
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Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612 *** (2014). Raport MEN [Report of The Ministry of Education, Romania] Available at http://adevarul.ro/educatie/scoala/raport-abandonulscolar-romania-crestere-pricopie-toamna-scolile-raporteze-internet-absentele-1_519a744f053c7dd83fb5d4fc/index.html *** (2013). Final report. European Commission. Reducing early school leaving: Key messages and policy support. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/school/early-school-leavers_en.htm
ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
PSIWORLD 2014
Parental Involvement and Intrinsic Motivation with Primary School Students Mariela Pavalache-Iliea*, Felicia-Antonia ğîrdiab a a
Transilvania University, 29, Eroilor Blvd, Brasov, 500036, Romania Transilvania University, 29, Eroilor Blvd, Brasov, 500036, Romania
Abstract The interest that the parents show towards the evolution of their children and the assistance that they offer with the homework are among the predictors of academic success and of the adaptation to the school environment. The present study investigates the relationship between parental involvement towards the school (evaluated according to the frequency of interactions with the teacher and the teacher’s perception on the quality of this interaction), the intrinsic motivation for learning and the educational performance. The participants in the research are students in the 3rd and 4th grade and their teachers. The results confirm the hypothesis that school performance is significantly associated to the level of parental involvement and of intrinsic motivation. © 2015 2015The TheAuthors. Authors. Published Elsevier © Published by by Elsevier Ltd.Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of PSIWORLD2014. Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of PSIWORLD 2014. Keywords: parental involvement in relation with the school, intrinsic learning motivation, academic performance.
1. Introduction 1.1. Parental involvement in relation with the school Considering the fact that school dropout is more and more frequent in Romania, and the level of academic performance lowers dramatically (Voicu, 2010; Ministry of National Education Report, 2014), both teachers and officials are looking for the best solutions to solve these issues. Numerous research from around the world show that when schools and families work together as partners, the students are the main beneficiaries (Miedel & Reynolds,
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +0-407-211-7315 E-mail address:[email protected]
1877-0428 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of PSIWORLD 2014. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.03.113
608
Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
2000). The partnerships between schools and families support the teachers in performing their job, enhance the educational abilities of the students and contribute to the improvement of the curriculum and of the school climate. Furthermore, they determine the improvement of the educational and leadership abilities of the parents, they offer services and support to the families and they create a safer environment in schools (Agabrian & Millea, 2005). Parental involvement is defined as ‚the totality of strategies, actions and resources which the parents use during the tuition of their children in order to improve their chances to become successful from an educational and social point of view’(Hatos, 2004, pp. 114-115). Among the effective parental involvement strategies are exercising one’s part as a parent, communicating, volunteering, offering home support, decision making and collaborating with the community (Epstein, 1995, 2004). Among the factors which determine and influence parental involvement, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1997) mention the concept of active parental part, high self-effectiveness convictions, a welcoming school climate, requests coming from both teachers and from the chilld, the knowledge, abilities, time and energy of the parent. The socio-economical status and the educational level of the family can influence parental involvement, not necessarily at the level of the invlovement proper, but at the level in which it is manifested. The main educational actions undertaken by the parents even from the beginning of their children’s educational life are: communicating with the children, offering support in solving the homework, discussing the school activities and the educational progress (Albritton, Klotz & Robinson, 2003; Epstein, 2004; Henderson & Mapp, 2002); initiating and maintaining contact with the educational institution (Epstein, 2004; Henderson & Mapp, 2002); controlling the psychical and social environment of the child in order to ensure the academic success through the expectations of the parents, the attitude towards the learning process, the offered encouragements, the management of leisure time (Albritton et al., 2003; Epstein, 2004; Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005); the founding of extra-classes (inside or outside school) (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Parental involvement also includes volunteering and participating in the events organised by the school (Epstein, 2004; Henderson & Mapp, 2002); sharing their own experience in the domain of expertise as a guest of the class (Carlisle, Stanley, & Kemple, 2005); occupying decision-making positions inside the school (Carlisle et al., 2005); being enrolled in parental associations/organisations and in the parents’ council (Albritton et al., 2003; Epstein, 2004). Parental involvement positively influences the following variables: the mark average and the scores obtained in standardised tests, the enrollment of the students in challenging academic programs, the graduation of school cycles, the attendance of classess, the behaviour displayed at home and at school, the social abilities and the adaptation to the school environment (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Parental involvement is associated to motivation in its various aspects (Gonzalez DeHass, Willems & Doan Holbein, 2005). When the parents get involved,the children make more efforts to learn, they are more concentrated and attentive, more attracted towards the learning process and they think of themselves as being more competent (Izzo, Weissberg, Kasparow & Fendrich, 1999; Trusty & Lampe, 1997). Although homework assistance and the use of rewards for hjgh marks are correlated to extrinsic motivation, the encouragements and the praise are correlated to intrinsic motivation (Ames, deStefano, Watkins & Sheldon, 1995; Marchant, Paulson & Rothlisberg, 2001). The students whose parents get involved feel responsible for their own education. When the parents show vivid interest for the education of their children, the students are oriented towards excellence, they constantly look for challenges, they persevere in spite of difficulties and they show satisfaction towards the school tasks (Gonzalez, Doan Holbein & Quilter, 2002). When the parents get involved in the reading activities of the students, the students feel more effective, more motivated and they voluntarily take up reading (Adunyarittigun, 1997) 1.2. Research purpose and objectives The present correlational study pleads for the parents to play a more active part in the evolution of their children, primarily by consolidating a collaboration relationship with the teacher. The study has two objectives: (O1) to investigate the relationship between parental involvement and the intrinsic learning motivation for the primaryschool students; (O2) the identification of the relationship between parental involvement and the school results of students enrolled in the 3rd and the 4th grade. To this aim, the following hypotheses were formulated: H1. The level of parental involvement in the activity of the students is associated witht their intrinsic motivation
Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
609
H2. There is a connection between the educational results and parental involvement. H3. There are differences regarding the degree of involvement of Romanian parents and the degree of involvement of Rroma parents in the education of their children. 2. Methodology 2.1. Participants The population for this study included a convenience sample comprising students and teachers of elementary school. The research was conducted during the 2013-2014 school year in five schools in FăJăraú on a concenience sample comprising 231 3rd grade and 4th grade students (table 1) and 12 teachers of these students. 60,6% of the students are Romanians, the rest being Rroma. Table 1. Mean, standard deviations for pupils’ age. Grade 3rd 4th
Pupils 115 116
Mean 9,68 10,34
SD 1,08 0,56
Girls (N) 50 60
Mean 9,46 10,32
SD 0,80 0,62
Boys (N) 66 55
Mean 9,83 10,37
SD 1,65 0,48
60,6% of the students are Romanians, the rest being Rroma. 2.2. Instruments Starting from the wide variety of dimensions brought forward by the models of parental involvement (Eccles & Harold, 1996; Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994; Wong & Hughes, 2006), we have designed a 19 item scale focusing on the relationship between the teacher and the parent (10 items concerning mutual understanding, mutual aims, mutual expectations and respect) and the general involvement (9 items: ease of communication, volunteering, participating in school meetings and events); the teachers filled in the scale for each of the students. The 10-item alliance scale has a Cronbach alpha = .94, and for the second 9- item scale Cronbach alpha was .89. The answering format was a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The high scores represent a strong educational alliance between school and family and a high degree of involvement of the parents in relation with the teacher. The students completed the extrinsic motivation subscale (9 items) from the Elementary School Motivation Scale (ESMS), (Guay et al., 2010). The instrument measures the level of intrinsic motivation which refers to behaviours that are performed by choice because the individual judges them to be important, related to reading, writing and mathematics. The answering format was, anew, a 5-point likert-type scale. The students completed the scale at school, being guided by the teachers (the teachers explained the assignment and answered possible questions from the students). 3. Results H1. Table 2 presents the Pearson correlations between the parents’ involvement and the three components of the intrinsic motivation of the students for the entire sample and for the 3rd and 4th grade separately. Table 2. Pearson correlations for motivation and parents’ involvement.
Entire sample 3rd grade 4th grade *p<.05, **p<.01.
Alliance Parental involvement Alliance Parental involvement Alliance Parental involvement
Reading motivation .32** .44** .45** .46 ** .36**
Writing motivation .26** .40** .35** .42** .31**
Maths motivation .40** .53** .52** .56** .30** .50**
Intrinsic motivation .39** .56** .51** .57** .22* .48**
Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
610
The association relationship is more intense for the 3rd grade students, possibly because of their greater need to be assisted at this stage of their educational life. H2. The results confirm the existence of an intense correlation between the academic achievement and the parental involvement in the educational life of their children (table 3). Table 3. Pearson correlations for academic achievement and parents’ involvement.
Entire sample 3rd grade 4th grade
Alliance Parental involvement Alliance Parental involvement Alliance Parental involvement
Romanian Language average .60** .69** .67** .75** .53** .62**
Mathematics average .59** .64** .68** .68** .52** .61**
**p<.01.
Anew, the association relationship is more intense for the 3rd grade. H3. The T tests indicate that the parents of Rroma children get less involved in collaborating with the teacher and with the school t(114, 86)= 11,97, p < .001(Av romanian = 3.65, SD = .61; Av rroma = 2.53, SD = .68). No significant differences were registered between the 3rd and the 4th grade. 4. Discussion After the statistical analyses we are entitled to conclude that there is a significant association between the level of parental involvement and the level of intrinsic motivation for reading, writing and mathematics, as well as between parental involvement and the educational results of the students. The results confirm those obtained by other researchers who have concluded that parental involvement in school is a dynamic force influencing the students' academic success concerning reading achievement, mathematics achievement (Shaver & Walls, 1998) and the motivation to learn. Despite the fact that no similar studies were conducted in Romania, we can sustain, as Bernard (2004) did, that to militate for stimulating the parental involvement in school is an important component in early childhood education in order to help promote long-term effects, even for the academic success in high-school. The results of the current research confirm other studies conducted on other populations (Fan & Williams, 2010; Gonzalez et al., 2002 úi Gonzalez-DeHass et al., 2005), which emphasize the need of further investigations concerning the relationship between parental involvement and learning motivation. Even though at European level the need of empowering the families and the parents to support the education of their children is considered a priority (Final report. European Commission, 2013), schools have to develop approaches that enable parents to become a resource in their children’s learning. Parents who did not have access to education particularly need to be supported in their role to encourage and motivate young people to aim higher in their educational aspirations and achievements. For many pupils, parental involvement is important for gaining recognition, demonstrating and celebrating achievements, raising self-esteem and self-respect. The practical implication of this explanatory study targets the implementation of some partnership programs and activities involving the family and the school. The implementation should be done by the teacher. The long-term effectiveness could increase if these programs were not occasional, but the ideal consequence of the collaboration between the parents and the school in all the school actions and policies. One of the challenges is related to the need of developing programs suitable to the Rroma parents, whose presence in school (school meetings, celebrations) is very low and the assistence that they offer to their children in the educational process is modest or even inexistent. Based on the results of this study, one of the authors, which directly works with Rroma children has designed an
Mariela Pavalache-Ilie and Felicia-Antonia Ţîrdia / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 187 (2015) 607 – 612
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assistance program directed towards the parents of Rroma children, which is to take place mainly inside the community and to a lesser extent inside the school.
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