5.5.4.1 Parental responses on how the schools involve them in inclusive education
The parents were required to respond to a set of statements on how the school involved them in IE. The means and SDs of their response have been presented in descending order in Table 5-32.
Table 5-32: Parents’ responses on how schools involve them in IE (N=520)
Activities M SD
1. My child’s school encourages all parents to be part of the PTA 3.52 0.79 2. My child’s school keeps me informed of PTA activities 3.40 0.98 3. My child’s school contacts me when they want any information
about my child
3.07 0.98
4. My child’s school has laid down rules as to what parents can or cannot do as far as their children’s education is concerned
2.89 0.98
5. My child’s school offers me the opportunity to be part of the decision-making process in the school
2.87 0.97
6. The school educates me on how to take care of my child 2.84 .096 7. The school communicates with me about every aspect of my
child’s education
2.67 0.97
8. The school authorities encourage me to come to the school to talk about my child’s education
2.66 1.02
9. My child’s school encourages me or invites me to act as a volunteer
2.02 1.01
10. Staff members from my child’s school visit our home to discuss educational issues.
1.74 0.88
Rated on a 4 point scale where 1 = Never and 4= Always.
The means in Table 5-32 show that the majority of the parents reported that the schools involved them in a number of activities. Prominent amongst them are, encouraging parents to be part of the PTA (M = 3.52, SD = 0.79), keeping parents informed about PTA activities (M = 3.40, SD = 0.98) and contacting parents when they want information about their children (M = 3.07, SD = 0.98). Additionally, the results for the statements ‘‘my child’s school has laid down rules as to what parents can or cannot do as far as their children’s education is concerned’’ (M = 2.89, SD = 0.98) and ‘‘my child’s school offers me the opportunity to be part of the decision- making process in the school’’ (M = 2.87, SD = 0.97), shows that many parents are of the opinion that the school does the mentioned activities to enhance their involvement in IE.
However, in two areas the effort of the schools to involve the parents appears to be less. These activities are, staff members visiting parents’ homes to discuss educational issues (M = 1.74, SD = 0.88) and the school inviting parents to act as volunteers either in fundraising, teaching or being resource persons (M = 2.02, SD = 0.88).
5.5.4.2 Headteachers’ responses on how the school involves parents in inclusive education
The headteachers also responded to a set of items on how the schools involved parents in IE. The means and SDs of their responses have been presented in descending order in Table 5-33.
Table 5-33: Headteachers’ responses on how schools involve parents in IE (N=34)
Statements M SD
1. The school encourages all parents to be part of the PTA 3.85 0.36 2. The school keeps parents informed of PTA activities 3.82 0.39 3. The school offers parents the opportunity to be part of the
decision-making process in the school
3.59 0.66
4. The school authorities encourage parents to come to the school to talk about their child’s education
3.50 0.71
5. The school contact parents when they want any information about their child
3.47 0.79
6. The school educates parents on how to take care of their child 3.38 0.74 7. The school has laid down rules as to what parents can or cannot
do as far as their children’s education is concerned
3.35 0.88
8. The school communicates with parents about every aspect of their child’s education
3.06 0.81
9. The school encourages parents or invites them to act as a volunteer
2.06 0.65
10. Staff members from the school visit parents at home to discuss educational issues
1.94 0.81
Rated on a 4 point scale where 1 = Never and 4= Always.
The results in Table 5-33 show that the head teachers reported high school involvement of parents in IE. Analysis of the result shows that almost all the activities were reportedly being done by the school to enhance PI. The results are similar to that of the parents’ responses in that the parents also recorded high school involvement in most of the activities with the exception of the school encouraging or inviting parents to act as volunteers and home visits by school staff to discuss educational issues just like the headteachers.
Overall, the headteachers recorded higher means and lesser SDs than the parents. Meaning that more headteachers perceived the school to be involving parents in their children’s IE.
5.5.4.3 Additional ways parents want to be involved in inclusive education Parents were required to indicate other ways they would like to be involved in their children’s IE. The headteachers were also asked to indicate other ways they think parents want to be involved. Responses of both groups were collated and presented in Table 5-34.
Table 5-34: Other ways parents want to be involved in IE
Activities
Parents Freq %
Headteachers Freq % 1. Assisting children with road crossing
before and after school
369 71.0 26 76.5
2. Helping in the school library 280 53.8 17 50.0
3. Listening to pupils read in class 276 51.3 15 44.1 4. Acting as guest speaker on speech
Days
240 46.2 25 73.5
5. Helping in preparing teaching and learning materials
233 44.8 11 32.4
6. Helping on class trips. 228 43.8 15 44.1
7. Helping in the school canteen 202 38.8 19 55.9
8. Helping with sports coaching 163 31.3 23 67.6
Table 5-34 shows that ‘‘assisting children with road crossing before and after school’’ recorded the highest number of responses for both parents 369 (71%) and headteachers 26 (76.5%). The second and third items with more parental responses were ‘‘helping in the school library’’ 280 (53.8%) and ‘‘listening to pupils read in class’’ 276 (51.3%). These had 17 (50%) and 15 (44.1%) headteachers selecting them. ‘‘Helping on class trips’’ is an activity that had close to the same percentage of parents, 228 (43.8%), and headteachers 15 (44.1%) selecting it.
‘‘Helping with sports coaching’’ was the activity which least percentage of parents 163 (31.3%) want to be involved in. On the contrary, a higher percentage of the headteachers 23 (67.7%) are of the view that parents would want to be involved. It is evident from the results in Table 5-34 that apart from assisting with road crossing and helping on class trips which had closer percentages of parents and headteachers choosing it, on all other activities, the parents and headteachers had different opinions. However, the three top ways that parents want to be involved in IE based on the parents’ responses in Table 5-34 are, ‘‘assisting children with road
crossing before and after school’’, ‘‘helping in the school library’’ and ‘‘listening to pupils read in class’’.
Parents were requested to supply other ways they wanted to be involved in their children’s education that were not stated in the options, 264 parents responded. Out of this number, 132 (50.0%) wanted to be part of the decision-making process, 35 (13.3%) ‘‘wanted to be able to raise funds and volunteer as a resource person’’, another 35 (13.3%) said they needed further education on how to help their child, 25 (9.5%) wanted to be involved in the discipline of their child, 20 (7.5%) were of the view that it is the government’s responsibility not theirs and finally 17 (6.4%) wanted to be able to ‘‘decide what goes into the curriculum of their children’’.
In addition to the three top ways identified in the parents’ section of Table 5-34, it may be concluded that some parents also want to be part of decision-making, volunteering, and be involved in disciplinary decisions. However, some parents were of the view that they need more education on how to help their child. Other parents took the stand that it is the responsibility of the government rather than being theirs.
5.5.5 Factors that facilitate parental involvement in inclusive education