International Journal of Emergent Issues of Social Science, Arts, and Humanities
Vol. 1 No. 2; April 2023; Page: 21-37
Parental Engagement in Schooling: A Survey of Secondary Schools in Kwara State, Nigeria
Martins Olanrewaju Atunde1*, Abdulganiyu Adebayo Tijani2, Johnson Abiodun Medupin3, Ijeoma Charity Ogbudinkpa4, Janet Oluwakemi Oladejobi5
1Department of Research and Development, Brightlight Research & ICT Centre, London
2,4&5 Department of Educational Management, University of Ilorin, Nigeria
3Department of Educational Management & Counseling, Al-Hikmah University, Nigeria
*Corresponding author’s e-mail: atundemartins@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This study inquired about parental engagement (PE) in schooling, focusing on secondary school students in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study also examined the existing differentials in parental engagements based on school type, geographic location, and students’ academic level. To accomplish the objectives, a descriptive survey design was adopted for the research. One thousand two hundred and ninety-six students were sampled from 72 secondary schools with multi-stage sampling procedures. A questionnaire titled “Parental Engagement Assessment Questionnaire” (PIAQ) was utilized as a data collection instrument. Mean scores, standard deviation, t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were appropriate statistical tools used in analyzing the collected data. The key finding made known was that the general level of parental engagement in schooling among secondary school students in Kwara State was moderate. Explicitly, students in private schools experienced higher PE than those in public schools; students schooling within the Kwara Central senatorial district experienced higher PE than those in Kwara-South and Kwara-North respectively; even in grade 10 students received a higher level of PE compared to those in grade 11 and grade 12 respectively. The study concluded that, despite the moderate level of PE in secondary school students schooling, significant disparities exist based on school ownership, geographic/senatorial distribution, and students’ academic level. Thus, further studies are needed to investigate other students’ characteristics that determine PE.
Keywords: Academic Level; Geographic Location; Parental Engagement; Schooling; School Ownership
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Background
Secondary education is a significant and exclusive level of schooling, that remains the educational accomplishment children acquire after basic education but prior to higher education. In other words, secondary education takes up a key position in any educational system, by serving as the linkage between the basic and higher levels of education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2013). In Nigeria, and specifically Kwara State, secondary schools are classified based on ownership and geographical spread. In terms of ownership, public and privately owned secondary schools are the two foremost types. Private schools are those in the possession of and established by private individuals/entities/proprietors or groups, including missionary or religious bodies and corporate organizations, whereas public schools are possessed, financed, and administered by the government (State or Federal). Geographical dispensation is based on the locality of schools within a statutorily recognized geopolitical zone or senatorial district (e.g., Kwara-central, Kwara-north, and Kwara- south) in a State. All Nigerian secondary schools, irrespective of their proprietorship and geographic base, are anticipated to function in conformity with prescribed educational goals, and accordingly seek to turn out brilliantly performing students across all academic levels (i.e., grades 10, 11 and 12), as this determines the excellence of their products and outputs. But what is being observed nowadays leaves a great deal to be desired, considering the poor trends of scholastic performance of senior secondary students in both in-school and nationalized examinations (Johnson, Atunde, & Olaniyi, 2020) administered by prominent bodies such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (NECO), and even the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB).
Of greater apprehension are the heinous end results poor scholastic performances can have on the students, parents, educational system, and wider society, bearing in mind the significance of secondary education and its indispensable access to higher education. This is occasioned by the fact that, students who would have secured admission into various institutions of higher learning (university, polytechnics, and colleges of education), and be profitably engaged and functional to themselves, their parents and their homelands may turn out to be dropouts, criminals or end up in paltry trade or diminutive scale businesses. Their opportunities for brighter careers are further lessened, and this can contribute enormously to the economic loss of a nation. Causation studies (Atunde et al., 2022; Nora’asikin Abu Bakar et al., 2021; Yieng, Katenga & Kijai, 2019) carried out in this direction over the years, traced the performances of students to their immediate home environments, excluding other factors. The claim of these studies is catalyzed by the cue that, educational base of a child is precisely initiated from the home in a casual way (informal education) before he/she is sent to school to undergo a prescribed form of education (formal education). This postulation transcribed that, the parent otherwise known as, the primary educator an infant gets in touch with (Wegayehu, Gebremedhin & Digvijay, 2020), is the earliest and most powerful socializing advocate of transformation and oversees building the child’s character (Ayeni, 2021), and making him/her what he/she grows to be in life. In fact, parents from the initiation of a child's growth play engaging and essential tasks in his/her survival, as well as the fulfillment of social and academic needs or successes.
This parenting mission over the years has become an uphill task for most parents, caregivers and guardians in the face of economic challenges or hardships, work-life imbalances, poor awareness of parenting roles in a child’s educational development, cultural restrictions, especially in rural areas, as well as low socio-economic profile of some parents (Darko-Asumadu & Sika-Bright, 2021; Mante et al., 2021). Supporting this claim, observatory trends from surveys showed the predominance of derisory parenting behaviours like poor parental educational acculturation given to children, low level of parental stewardship (Muza et al., 2020), ambiguous parental cognitions and expectations, poor parental abetment, bad parenting styles/ patterns/practices and lackasidical parental internal attachment patterns (Ayeni, 2021) currently spreading across societies. The outcome of these parenting issues can be witnessed in the geometric rise of indiscipline and unruly behaviours like niggling out of school, truancy and absenteeism, academic dishonesty or exam misconduct, stealing, rudeness, student-student or student-teacher bullying (Akomolafe & Adesua, 2016), viewing of pornography films in the school environment, bringing of deadly weapons to school (Atunde & Aliyu, 2019), disobedience to parents/teachers/school authorities, gaming, drug abuse, engagement in cultist activities, violence perpetuation (Atunde & Aliyu, 2019) and sexual decadence (raping and gang raping), which now constitute student’s social life and norms. These maladies could have a damaging impact on student’s study attitude/habits, interest in schooling, intellectual development, the teaching-learning process, and learning outcomes. To offer ways out of these anomalies, social researchers like Fernández-Alonso et al., (2022), Lindberg and Güven, (2021), Grijalva-Quinonez et al., (2020), Epstein et al., (2018), Trentalange (2019), and Amponsah et al., (2018) however called for adequate parental engagements (PE) in their children schooling or didactic developmental process. This is occasioned by the fact that, PE could make enormous impact in promoting healthier collaboration between parents and schools (Dumoulin, Thériault & Duval 2014), as well as modifying students’ behavioural intention(s), studious attitude (Epstein et al., 2018), learning adjustment (Serna & Martinez, 2019), self-efficacy (Grijalva-Quinonez et al., 2020), intellectual development (Saada, 2021), academic success (Ateş 2021; Cook 2021; Fatimaningrum, 2021; Lindberg & Güven, 2021; Naite, 2021; Trentalange, 2019) and life endeavours.
In view of the suggested importance of PE in literature, diversity of investigations have been carried out by educationalist and researchers in African nations, including Ghana (Darko-Asumadu & Sika- Bright 2021; Mante et al., 2021; Amponsah et al., 2018), Ethiopia (Wegayehu, Gebremedhin & Digvijay, 2020), Nigeria (Ayeni, 2021) and Uganda (Sekiwu & Kaggwa, 2019), as well as developed nations like Canada (Dumoulin, Thériault & Duval 2014), Chile (Lara & Saracostti, 2019), Israel (Saada, 2021), Mexico (Grijalva-Quinonez et al., 2020), Spain (Serna & Martinez, 2019), Sweden (Lindberg & Güven, 2021), Thailand (Naite, 2021; Yieng, Katenga & Kijai, 2019) and United States of America (Cook 2021; Fatimaningrum, 2021; Thornton, 2015). Despite the abundance of empirical research on PE and its impact on the basic, post-basic, and post-secondary educational institutions there have been unsolved research dilemmas over the years. From the existing literature, it was discovered that many studies did not highlight the existing differential in PE on the conceptualized study sub-scales based on types of schools’ students attended, the geographical dispersion of schools, and students’ academic level especially in the study area (Kwara State). Additionally, most available studies were metal-analysis (Fernández-Alonso et al., 2022; Cook 2021; Fatimaningrum, 2021; Erdem & Kaya, 2020; Castro et al., 2015; Kim & Hill, 2015; Zhou, 2015), which focused on the effect of PE on student’s self-efficacy, learning development and scholastic success. Moreover, findings from most existing studies on PE look inclusive, as literature evidence (Fernández-Alonso et al., 2022; Erdem & Kaya, 2020) suggests that specific types of parental engagement vary across diverse family settings, study contexts, countries, and student characteristics (type of school attended or educational level), together with the diversity of research designs, instruments, analytical tools, and inconclusive results. Considering this, the investigators of the present research observed that, studies on the level at which parents are engaged in their children’s schooling heedless of the type of school (public or private), geographical confines of such schools, and academic level in Kwara State are scarce in empirical terms. This therefore signifies a research lacuna, which requires further research inquiry. Thus, the main objective of this research was to assess the parental engagement in schooling, currently prevalent in Kwara State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study seeks to ascertain the differentials in level of parental engagement in schooling based on type of school ownership, geographical or senate locality, and students’ academic discipline and level in Kwara State, Nigeria.
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Literature Review
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Conceptual Review
Parental engagement, which is shortened as PE and used interchangeably in literature with lingo like parental involvement, parental collaboration, and parental influence, is an intricate and multidimensional expression when scrutinized in detail. Conventionally, when PE is exploited, the broad-spectrum opinions of various writers and scholars point to the participation of parents in school-based activities such as continuous presence at parent-teacher association (PTA) events, and volunteering at other school events related to their child’s education. Danişman (2017) stated that PE may include anything related to encouraging students to do well in class, encourage them to have good grades and participate in extramural activities, in addition to being helpful in advancing their child’s education. Similarly, Amponsah et al., (2018) described PE as the extent to which they are dedicated to their responsibility as a guardian, and to the nurturing of their child in a best possible manner. That is, it normally concerns the quantity of endeavor put into child-leaner education in addition to other activities. Explaining from an educational perspective, Wegayehu, Gebremedhin and Digvijay (2020) and Lara and Saracostti (2019) observed that PE primarily focused on explicit activities such as partaking in school events, helping with homework and the amount of time families/parents contact school authorities. Ayeni (2021) added that PE is a vigorous support that a mother/father or both contribute to the child’s physical, intellectual, and psychosomatic development.
In view of these varied descriptions of PE, scholars like Thornton (2015), as well as Dumoulin, Thériault and Duval (2014), put forward well-known PE variables to include parent-child conversations in relation to school routines, parental desires, and anticipations, parenting approach, studying at home, ensuring homework is done, school engagement, and home rules. In Kim and Hill (2015) and Zhou (2015)’s meta-analytic research, PE was scaled into three non-overlying elements according to the location where parental practices occur: home-based engagement, school-based engagement, and community-based engagement. Home-based engagement includes educational ambition, parent-child dialogue, and home supervision (Zhou, 2015). School-based engagement includes parent-school dialogue, and voluntary membership in school committees (Maiya et al., 2020; Zhou, 2015), while community-based engagement is primarily in relation to using public resources to augment their child’s academic progress (Kim & Hill, 2015; Zhou, 2015). Darko- Asumadu and Sika-Bright (2021), Mante et al., (2021), Wegayehu, Gebremedhin and Digvijay (2020) and Serna and Martinez (2019) affirmed that PE contains both structural (family composition, socioeconomic status, and level of parents’ enlightenment) and dynamic (parent-child relationship, affective climate, disciplinary style, parental level of cognition) constructs. Other PE measuring scales used in literature include parent-student monitoring, parent-school contact, parent- school support (Lindberg & Güven, 2021; Danişman 2017), parental hope, parental support, and family learning culture (Fernández-Alonso et al., 2022).
Based on a survey of the literature, as well as the opinions of Atunde et al., (2022) and Liu, Sulaimani and Henning (2020), PE is the participatory attitude of parents in the didactic process and experiences of their children, which encompasses more parenting styles, patterns, and practices. conceptual sub-scales of PE were put forward for the study. These include parental educational acculturation (PEA), parental backing and aid (PBA), parental home scholastic relations (PHSR) and parental stewardship (PS). PEA refers to the prospects and worth parents bestow on their children’s education, and it is closely related to scholarly socialization activities such as turning out at parent- teacher and other school meetings, assisting with school development, availing their children with recreational and cultural activities and involvement in school administration. PHSR covers home educational tasks like giving learning assistance and opportunities and having conversation with reference to school affairs. PBA are the undeviating deeds parents provide in the learning process of the student, such as availing them for in-school and after-school tutoring, transporting them to school or picking them up after school hours, and providing them with needed educational materials (Cook 2021). Parental stewardship is the parenting practice of engaging in student’s daily life which engrosses knowing where they are at certain times, whether they have completed homework (Danişman 2017), rewarding good behaviors, consequences for negative behaviors, limiting certain activities, and doing all these consistently.
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Empirical Summary of Parental Engagement Globally
The debate in the global sphere (America, Asia, Europe, and Africa) about the level of parental engagement in their children’s education, has been reoccurring and continuing for the past two decades, and this has produced surfeit of contemporary empirical research (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed), qualitative meta-syntheses, indicators specific meta-analyses and general meta-analytic studies, with multifarious findings. This empirical evidence is presented under the following sub- heads:
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Parental Engagement in American Nations
Findings from metal-analysis research (Cook 2021) carried out among 50 parents or guardians of fourth grade students at a public middle school in the southeastern United States indicated that parental engagement does not significantly influence student status as gifted and talented (GT) or non-GT. Contrarily, result from the metal-analysis study involving 40 studies by Fatimaningrum (2021) showed link between parental engagement and academic achievement with r=0.251. Grijalva-Quinonez et al., (2020) study of 823 Mexican elementary students discovered that parental self-rule support positively relates with scholastic self-worth and self-synchronized learning and educational achievement, but parental control was negatively related. The study by Lara and Saracostti (2019) involving 498 parents or caregivers of children attended 2nd and 3rd grade public schools in three diverse regions in Chile (Maule, Libertador Bernando O’Higgins, and Araucanía) showed that there are differences in parental engagement profiles, demonstrating that children with low parental engagement have lower scholarly achievement. Castro et al., (2015) conducted a quantitative synthesis of 37 studies in pre-basic, basic, and post-basic schools. Results show that the parental models most linked to high achievement are those focusing on general supervision of their brood's scholarship activities, as well as having high scholastic expectations, developing, and maintaining cordial rapport about school activities, and helping to improve upon their children’s reading habits. Thornton’s (2015) study involving 474 parents and teachers of primary level students in a Chicago urban elementary school revealed that majority of participants affirmed that parents: help their children by checking homework constantly, making sure assignments are correctly done. Thornton (2015) also found out that there was no difficulty among parents being enthusiastically engaged in their ward’s education. Dumoulin, Thériault and Duval’s (2014) study dealt with the opinions of 352 parents of pupils in four schools in Quebec. The study concluded that even though parents are commonly contented with the school and home partnership, loads of modifications are silently required including: budding rapport practices to encourage dialogue between parents and teachers; organizing gatherings that take into account parents’ occupation; disseminating information to parents regarding their child’s progresses, intricacies and learning; and notifying parents from underprivileged areas concerning the importance of their position in their children’s education.
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Parental Engagement in European Nations
The metal-analytic study based on country distribution and academic invariance by Fernández- Alonso et al., (2022) found that family help with homework does not guarantee students’ academic successes. Also, adopting the meta-analysis method involving 53 studies, Ateş (2021) unravel that PE influence academic achievement, whereas the effect did not significantly differ according to geographical areas, course areas, and school levels. The correlational research conducted by Lindberg and Güven (2021) discovered that PE at home, parent’s educational class, family socio- economic class, and parental belief are significantly correlated with children’s school success. The cross-sectional survey (Serna & Martinez, 2019) involving 1043 Spanish adolescents found out that PE sways adolescents’ school satisfaction, school adjustment, school integration and prosocial outlook despite scholastic accomplishment, being a protective dynamic in that modification. The quantitative study involving 85 parents from two different western cities by Trentalange (2019) found that PE does intervenes the connection between parents’ internal affection patterns, parenting styles and children’s scholastic successes based on the Bowlby’s theory of attachment and Baumrind’s parenting framework. Danişman (2017) meta-analysis study of 1640 research studies showed that parent engagement has a low-level affirmative effect on student achievement.
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Parental Engagement in Asian Nations
In Thailand, Naite (2021) carried out a qualitative study among 12 parents whose children are registered at Crescent International School in Bangkok. Results revealed that students with highly involved parents had superior grades and test scores compared to students whose parents were less involved in their learning. Saada’s (2021) survey of 312 Arab adolescent learners studying in Israel revealed that students who are experiencing high parental engagement also engage in self-regulated learning (SRL), whilst inspirational support and parenting behaviours related to education are predicting factors of SRL. Using the meta-analysis method to screen 55 research relating to home- based and school-based parental engagement at pre-school, basic and secondary levels, Erdem & Kaya (2020) reported that parental expectations had significant effect on educational achievement, whereas parental supervision had significant negative effect. The study also reported that PE does not vary significantly based on moderating variables like education level, and measurement area but differs by developmental level of a country. The survey (Yieng, Katenga & Kijai, 2019) carried out among 60 undergraduate students studying in five Asia-Pacific International University (AIU) hostels discovered that, even though positive influence exists on the family bond between parents and students, it does not sufficiently clarify scholastic performance amongst students. Additionally, Yieng, Katenga and Kijai’s (2019) study reported that Thai students were availed with higher level of parental support than international students. In another meta-analysis study, Kim and Hill (2015) discovered that school-based engagement and intellectual enrichment at home were robustly related to achievement of kindergarten to 12th grade learners, with mothers having higher engagements than fathers. Result from a meta-analysis, based on 13 empirical Asian-American studies, conducted by Zhou (2015) showed that, parental engagement subtypes of educational aspiration and community- based engagement were constantly exhibited, home supervision and home-based engagement were often exhibited, while parent-child discussion and school-based engagement were not often exhibited.
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Parental Engagement in African Countries
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In Africa, the study conducted by Darko-Asumadu and Sika-Bright (2021) among 120 selected pupils from Kwaprow Basic School in the Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana found that parents did not help their children in their scholastic activities together with failure to be present at PTA meetings and not supporting them when doing homework. Darko-Asumadu and Sika-Bright (2021) mainly credited this finding to low parental educational level. In another study cross-sectional study conducted among 363 students in the Kwabre East Municipal in Ghana, Mante et al., (2021) concluded that financial adversity was a momentous challenge for the effectual engagement of parents in the scholastic feat of students. Also, in Ghana, Amponsah et al., (2018) survey involving 471 high school students within the Ashanti Municipality of Ghana showed that parental engagement in education is positively related with educational achievement. In Ethiopia, Wegayehu, Gebremedhin and Digvijay’s (2020) cross-sectional of 118 students at Debre Berhan General Secondary School found that, rate of cash given to gratify basic and didactic materials, earnings level, parent’s livelihood, family size, schooling level of parent, and parent’s style of incentive significantly influence academic output of students. In Uganda, Sekiwu and Kaggwa (2019) comparative research of 360 students from eight denominational schools in Tororo district discovered mild PE in child education, while the mild level differs among denominational schools with Moslem schools having low PE, and Catholic schools having higher PE level. The study concluded that parent engagement in children’s education is superior at home than in the school. In Kwara State-Nigeria, Ayeni (2021) carried out an ex-post facto study among 280 students (9th graders) and found that, though social capital is a determinant of parental engagement, it can also be an obstruction to equitable entrée to learning supports for math achievement.
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Theoretical /Contextual Exposition
Theory is a scientifically well-thought-out knowledge, with a series of postulations devised to aid, analyse, predict, or otherwise explain the specific intricacies of a research problem. This study was however anchored on the six-clustered parental engagement framework also called the “School- Family-Community Partnership Model” promoted by Joyce Epstein in 2010. This theoretical model/framework is among the most functional theory developed in education practice for the amplification of PE practices, and it links to definite types of outcomes. This widely accepted framework, which guides educators to develop comprehensive family school partnerships, is based on six diverse contexts of PE, namely: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and community collaboration (Epstein, 2010). The six contexts espoused by Epstein (2010), which indicate that PI is practiced within the home, school, and immediate community, are processes and practices closely related with children’s scholastic and social needs/goals assumed by parents in taking self-motivated responsibilities in producing a congenial schooling environment for their children (Epstein et al., 2018). Relating this theory to the research, it was from these six parental engagement practices postulated by Epstein (2010) that the researchers of the present study extracted and streamlined PE into four main indices of parental educational acculturation (volunteering and communication), parental backing/aids (parenting), parental home scholastic relations (learning at home) and parental stewardship (decision-making and collaborating with the community). Every one of the PE sub-scales are what parents must possess and exhibit to aid their children’s social, physiological, psychological, and educational development. The relevance of this theory to this research is that it would improve awareness and enhance the PE practices of parents for attainment of their children’s short and long-term educational goals. In most cases, this will require positive attitude, behaviours as well as self-awareness, objectivity, and adaptability of parents despite school type, geographical location, and students’ academic level. In sight of this, the conceptual model was designed for the study (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Conceptualized Model of the Study
The conceptual model in Figure 1 initiates the different sub-scales of parental engagements, which can be high, moderate, or low. The model also conceptualized that different level of parental engagements sub-scales might be associated/dependent with selected students characteristics such as ownership of school attended, locality the school is geographically situated and academic level. Based on the foregoing conceptual assumptions, the following research questions guided the study:
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What is the level of parental engagement in students schooling in Kwara State?
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Does the level of parental engagement in schooling differ based on type of school ownership, geographic location, and students’ academic level in Kwara State?
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Methods
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Study Design
In lieu of the research objective, designed conceptual model and research questions raised, the descriptive survey design was adopted. The design of preference was informed by the methodological opportunities it gave the researchers in meticulously selecting representative samples, plus describing, finding out, analyzing, and interpreting the collected quantitative data without any outer exploitation.
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Research Settings/Participants
The study was carried out among public secondary schools in Kwara State in North-Central geopolitical region of Nigeria. The state has its capital in Ilorin and is comprised of 16 local government areas, which are rural, sub-urban and urban in nature. These LGAs spread across three senatorial districts of Kwara Central, Kwara North, and Kwara South respectively. Evidence made known that Kwara State has a total of 504 secondary schools, with 333 of these schools being owned by the government, whilst 171 are privately owned (Kwara State Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development - KW-MEHCD, 2015). The study was therefore, targeted at 97,187 grades 10 – 12 students schooling in all the 504 secondary schools in Kwara State, Nigeria (see Table 1).
Table 1: Distribution of Targeted Study Population
LGAs
No. of Schools
Grade 10 (SS1)
Grade 11 (SS II)
Grade 12 (SS III)
Total
Public
Private
Public
Private
Public
Private
Public
Private
Kwara Central
Asa
21
10
1308
373
1463
412
1791
419
5766
Ilorin East
26
15
3767
405
3463
472
2718
630
11455
Ilorin South
22
37
4187
1234
3460
1084
1938
1167
8883
Ilorin West
26
19
6627
863
5966
714
2913
680
17763
Moro
20
12
1256
237
1235
186
1336
184
4434
Kwara North
Baruteen
17
8
1495
188
1522
137
1546
64
4952
Edu
19
15
1967
306
1931
281
1867
248
6600
Kaiama
9
3
900
61
756
23
696
15
2451
Patigi
15
4
961
172
931
92
865
97
3118
Kwara South
Ekiti
15
3
489
65
437
40
640
41
1712
Ifelodun
42
15
1488
206
2021
183
2652
242
6792
Irepodun
39
12
1725
445
1792
464
1653
371
6450
Isin
16
1
390
14
437
15
640
14
1510
Offa
13
13
1913
346
1606
256
1124
196
5441
Oke-Ero
14
1
669
37
705
9
652
37
2109
Oyun
19
3
1215
59
1124
43
1060
63
3564
Total
333
171
30,357
5,011
28,849
4,411
24,091
4,468
97,187
Source: KW-MEHCD (2015). Kwara State Census Report 2013-2014, p. 13 – 14.
For the selection of study samples, the multi-phase sampling of purposive, systematic, stratified, and random sampling procedures was utilized. This chosen sampling technique, as claimed by renowned methodologists like Creswell & Creswell (2017) and Kothari (2014) allows researchers to easily select study samples from a geographic dissipated population. The sampling process was presented in Figure 2.
Figure 2 Multi-Stage Sampling Procedure for Selecting Study Participants
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Instrumentation/Data Collection Procedure
The four (4) point 24-item Likert scale instruments (questionnaire) tagged: “Parental Engagement Assessment Questionnaire” (PEAQ) was used for data collection. The researchers self-designed the instrument (PEAQ) in view of surveyed literature. The research instrument (PEAQ) after it was initially designed by the researchers was validated by three specialists in the fields of Educational Management, Sociology of Education and Test and Measurement. Remarks and modifications made autonomously by these specialists were adhered to in the production of the final instruments. Thereafter, the dependability of PEAQ was established by conducting a pre-study among 40 students from six secondary schools (public and private) in Ilorin metropolis-the State capital of Kwara state. Responses made by these pre-study participants were extracted, coded and analyses with Statistical Package for Social Sciences 20.0 using Cronbach Alpha Reliability method. The alpha values obtained for parental educational acculturation, parental backing/aids, parental home scholastic relations and parental stewardship sub-scales of PE were 0.82, 0.85, 0.90 and 0.87 respectively. The overall reliability estimates of 0.86 were obtained, demonstrating that PEAQ was suitable for use. Furthermore, the researchers administered a total of 1,296 copies of questionnaire on the respondents with the help of three trained research assistants recruited based on residency status. The instrument was repossessed immediately after administration, and this generated a response rate of 98.1% (that is, 1,272 questionnaires were filled appropriately).
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Data Analytical Tool
Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were used for data analysis (see Table 2) using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 20.0 version.
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Results
The results of this study were presented in Tables 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 accordingly.
Table 3: Level of Parental Engagement in Schooling in Kwara State
S/N
Statements
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Decision
Parental Educational Acculturation
1
Parents expend enough time with at home
2.93
1.25
ME
2
Parents frequently discuss the future goals/ambitions and the benefits of education to student
3.10
1.13
ME
3
Parents often talk about setbacks might be encountering at school with peers, teachers, or student’s schoolwork.
2.82
1.26
ME
4
Parents through mobile calls/WhatsApp chats/open day visits frequently inquire for information on student’s scholastic improvement from teachers and concerned school authorities.
2.70
1.23
ME
5
Parents vigorously take part in didactic activities e.g., PTA meetings, committees, sports day.
3.00
1.13
ME
6
Parents from time to time take to public libraries, community events or educational activities outside of the school.
2.48
0.99
LE
Cluster Mean (CM)
2.84
1.17
ME
Parental Backing/Aid
7
Parents assist and encourage to study hard, to acquire good grades
3.17
0.91
ME
8
Parents supply with required learning materials (textbooks, notebooks, biros, math set etc.) each academic term/session.
2.83
1.32
ME
9
Parents register for personal lessons/tuition to improve performance at school
2.98
1.16
ME
10
Parents help to work through and handle stressful circumstances or school difficulty.
2.43
1.01
LE
11
Parents always avail with moral and scholarly guidance when required
3.15
1.10
ME
12
Parents furnish with flattering remarks or gifts for intellectual successes.
2.57
0.89
ME
Cluster Mean (CM)
2.86
1.07
ME
Parental Home Scholastic Relations
13
Parents always designate leisure time to make sure I finish the school tasks before doing other things at home
2.47
0.99
LE
14
Parents at times assist with the homework/assignments to comprehend.
2.38
1.02
LE
15
Parents revise and appraise in variety of subjects before tests/exams in school
2.56
1.14
ME
16
When test papers brought home, parents review them with student.
2.44
1.01
LE
17
Parents repeatedly chat with student about school activities or events of interests
2.72
1.05
ME
18
Parents always talk about educational progress with student
3.01
1.28
ME
Cluster Mean (CM)
2.60
1.08
ME
Parental Stewardship
19
Parents set study rules at home for children
2.52
0.99
ME
20
Parents frequently supervise the assignments
2.78
1.22
ME
21
Parents instruct and guide on the form of TV program being
2.89
1.06
ME
watched
22
Parents pay attention to the kind of friends a child moves out with and minimize the period that is spent out with them.
3.01
1.28
ME
23
Parents always stopover to check the school attendance.
2.57
0.89
ME
24
Parents discipline/reprimand for improper conduct/behaviors.
3.15
1.10
ME
Cluster Mean (CM)
2.82
1.09
ME
OVERALL GRAND MEAN SCORE
2.78
1.10
ME
Key: 3.25 – 4.00 = High Engagement (HI)
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– 3.24 = Moderate Engagement (MI)
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< 2.50 = Low Engagement (LI)
With an overall grand mean score of 2.78, Table 3 displays that the level of parental engagement to their children’s schooling in Kwara State was moderate. A glance at Table 3 disclosed that the level of parental backing/aid (CM = 2.86), parental educational acculturation (CM = 2.84), parental stewardship (CM = 2.82) and parental home scholastic relations (CM = 2.60) were moderate, respectively. Distinctively, the level of parental backing/aid was highly ranked based on the cluster mean score.
Breakdown from Table 4 showed that private secondary schools had a higher mean score in areas of parental backing/aid (CM = 3.12), parental educational acculturation (CM = 2.97) and parental home scholastic relations (CM = 2.67) than their government owned of public counterpart with CM scores of 2.60, 2.71 and 2.53 respectively. Meanwhile, public secondary schools had a higher mean score (CM = 2.96) with regards to parental stewardship than their private contemporary. Summarily, the grand mean values of 2.86 and 2.70 obtained respectively indicate disparity in the overall level of parental engagement in their child’s schooling based on school ownership (private and public) in Kwara State.
Analysis from Table 5 showed that secondary schools situated within Kwara-central had superior cluster mean score (3.04) in all the PE indicators, followed by schools suited in Kwara-south and Kwara North respectively. In sum, the PE level of schools located in Kwara Central (CM = 3.04)
and Kwara-south (CM = 2.82) were moderate respectively, whereas the PE of schools located within Kwara-north was low (CM = 2.48). Conclusively, the overall level of PE differs based on geographic/senatorial distribution of secondary schools in Kwara State.
Overall result from Table 6 showed that, even though the level of PE in schooling of secondary school students across all academic level were moderate, grade 10 students (CM = 3.05) received higher level of parental engagement compared to grade 11 (CM = 2.78) and grade 12 (CM = 2.51) students respectively. Thus, disparity do exist in the level of PE in schooling in Kwara State.
Statistical upshots from Table 7 illustrate the differences in level of parental engagement in students schooling based on school type/ownership, geographical location of schools and academic level. The test of equality analysis makes known that the students from the two types of secondary schools (public and private) were significantly dissimilar from each other as regards to parental engagement (t-value = 4.121, p =0.000). Analysis of Variance results of parental engagement based on geographical/senatorial location indicate statistically significant differences (F = 3.402, p = 0.001). The results in Table 7 also revealed that the parental engagement received by Grade 10 students (M = 12.2001, SD = 4.52450) was higher compared to those in Grade 11 (M= 11.1200, SD = 3.99006) and Grade 12 (M = 10.0520, SD = 4.18413), indicating a significant disparity (overall F = 3.463, p = 0.001).
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Discussion
Result from the analysis showed that the overall level of parental engagement in students schooling in Kwara State secondary schools was moderate. This finding tallies with those of Mante et al., (2021), Darko-Asumadu and Sika-Bright (2021), and Sekiwu and Kaggwa (2019) but contradicts that of Lara and Saracostti (2019) which reported high level of parental engagement in children’s education in Chile and United States of America respectively. Relatedly, the findings of the present study confirmed that PE sub-scales of parental backing/aid, and parental stewardship were moderate with CM scores of 2.86 and 2.82 respectively. This finding tally with those of Muza et al., (2020), Wegayehu, Gebremedhin and Digvijay (2020), Akomolafe & Adesua (2016) who independently found that, students received good psychological, informational, tangible, emotional and scholarly support from their parents. Similarly, Castro et al., (2015) quantitative synthesis confirmed that most parents focused on general stewardship of their children's activities at home. Similarly, the present study finding confirmed that, the level of parental educational acculturation (CM = 2.84) and parental home scholastic relations (CM = 2.60) were also moderate the moderate level of these two PE indices unveiled in this investigation is somewhat not astonishing bearing in mind the state of financial hardship in the nation and lackadaisical attitude of some parents towards nurturing their children. As rightly observed by Johnson, Atunde & Olaniyi (2020) that, most parents who suppose to avail themselves to their children for consultation and counseling mostly focus on their occupation/business/ career rather than their children’s education. These parents never bothered to observe their children’s notebook on their arrival from school, even stopping over to be familiar with what their children are doing in school seems not their parenting task. Johnson, Atunde & Olaniyi (2020) added that, some parents do not constantly support after-school reading norms of their children or attend school activities; instead, they are busy gracing all form of social functions and gatherings. This finding aligns with that of Darko-Asumadu and Sika-Bright (2021) who reported poor involvement of parents regarding the academic activities of their children at home. Similarly, the studies conducted by Darko-Asumadu and Sika-Bright (2021) and Mante et al., (2021) in Ghana equally reported that parents were not engaging their children educationally, as they fail to: attend PTA summits and support their wards in-home learning. However, findings by Thornton (2015) who discovered that parents of primary grade level students in a Chicago urban elementary school are highly involved in their child’s education such as homework execution and school involvement negate that of this study.
Findings from inferential analysis further proved that the level of parental engagement in secondary school students schooling in Kwara State significantly differs based on type of school (p<0.05), geographical location of schools (p<0.05) and academic level of students. The statistical outcome of the differentials in parental engagement based on school ownership (p<0.05) suggests that students attending private secondary schools are receiving higher parental engagement in their schooling than those attending public schools. This finding is evident in the high mean scores for PE of students attending private secondary schools than their counterparts in public secondary schools. This might be attributed to fact that most parents who send their children to high cost/expensive private schools are economically stronger than parents of students in public schools. Thereby, avail them with every good educational experience in their cause of schooling. Regarding the level of parental engagement in students schooling disparity (p<0.05) based on geographical location, the finding clearly attests that, students schooling within Kwara-central senatorial district had higher parental engagement in their education than those who are schooling within Kwara-south and Kwara-north correspondingly. This finding supports the observations of Lara and Saracostti (2019) and Sekiwu and Kaggwa (2019) that, engagement of parents in their children’s education is highly dependent on school location. These conjectures plus the discovery of the present research may be ascribed to the fact that some schools are located within the geographical dispensations of rural, urban, or semi-urban vicinity, whereas each of this vicinity has their own peculiarities. This is observed in this study, as Kwara Central senatorial district is an urban dominated locale and houses the State capital (Ilorin) and other government parastatals with majority of inhabitants been civil servants, professionals working in private organizations, artisans, and educated individuals. Meanwhile, most communities in Kwara-south are mainly sub-urban areas with considerable amount of educated elites, while Kwara-north is mainly rural communities. This presumed disparity in educational advantage (Darko- Asumadu & Sika-Bright 2021), economic empowerment (Mante et al., 2021) and structural development (Liu, Sulaimani & Henning, 2020) of senatorial districts might further orchestrate why parents in Kwara-central are highly engaged in their children’s schooling than parents living in the other two senatorial districts in Kwara State. Lastly, the divergences in parental engagement in schooling based on students’ academic level (p<0.05) found in the present study is reminiscent of Maiya et al., (2020), Muza et al., (2020), and Yieng, Katenga and Kijai (2019) reports, which confirmed that parent are highly engaged during the early adolescent stage (aged 11 – 14 years) of their child’s education, nonetheless, as a child enters the middle (ages 15 – 17) and late (ages 18 – 21 years) adolescent stage, the engagement level of parents begins to dwindle. Concurring to this, Atunde et al., (2022) noted that, immediately students promote to the 11th or 12th grade of their academic pursuit, they begin to seek for more independence or freedom as well as seeing their parents as monitoring spirit or been uncomfortable with their parental tutelage, while parents also feel that these children are matured enough to look after themselves socially and educational, thereby lessen their engagement level in students schooling.
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Conclusion
The findings of this study have empirically corroborated the continuing discourse among researchers and stakeholders in education practice on the need to inclusively investigate parental engagement in students’ education. The study revealed that though the level of parental engagement in schooling in Kwara State was moderate, it also differed based on the type of school, geographic location of schools and student’s scholastic level. Therefore, parents, regardless of the type of school their children are attending, the geographic location of the school attended, and the academic level of their children, should actively engage and provide suitable academic acculturation, engaging home- school relations, vigorous psychological, emotional, and financial backing/aid along with tolerable stewardship to their children within and outside the school-home environment.
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Implication for Education Policy and Practice
The findings arising from the research implicate the policy and practice of education in terms of the attainment of secondary school goals, parenting efficacy, as well as students’ behavioural aptitude, study habits, intellectual development, and scholastic excellence. Specifically, the present study discovered a moderate level of PE in students schooling. The implication is that students are faced with developmental, physiological, and psychological challenges as they go through the rigours of their academic and social lives. This situation might make them susceptible to anti-social behaviours or fall prey to negative peer influences and the social ills of society. On a brighter note, the results make it imperative for parents to give adequate attention to their children’s welfare, discipline, didactic development, and social relations, irrespective of the type of school they send them to, academic level they are at, and geographical residence they are schooling in. This is because when students undergo such a positive socialization process, they are equipped with the intricacies to live effectively and become better individuals in society, now and in the future. More so, the disparity found in PE in schooling based on students’ characteristics implicates policy makers and educational planners by directing their attention to consider issues of school types, locale of school and academic level when designing and formulating school effectiveness policies, mobilizing school resources, planning for remedial programmes, and organizing sensitization and enlightenment programmes on effective parenting for parents. It would also aid school managers (principals, vice- principals, and school counsellors) in motivating parents to work habitually with their children’s scholarship progression, since they are the foremost tutors of their wards.
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Declarations
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Ethics approval and consent to participate: In the data collection process, electronically informed consent was obtained from the participants.
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Conflict of interests: Not applicable
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Acknowledgement: Gratitude to, Kwara State Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development. Additionally, to Johnson Medupin, and Charity Ogbudinkpa carried out the statistical analysis and result interpretations, while Oluwakemi Oladejobi worked on the editing and English composition of the article. Lastly, a special thanks to all members of the school leadership team/participants (principals, vice-principals and HODs) in the sampled schools for their patience and cooperation during the data collection stage.
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