Abstract
M.Ed.
This study focuses on the attitudes of educators towards the involvement of parents from a disadvantaged community. The past education system minimised the role of parents in education, thus distancing them and leaving them with a lack of ownership towards their children's education. This was especially apparent in disadvantaged communities. Consequently, the Department of Education has recently identified the lack of parental involvement in children's education, as one of the main barriers to quality education in South Africa. Along with the changes in the political and economical spheres, in South Africa, over the last few years, there has also been a shift towards a more democratic
education system. This entailed the acceptance of an inclusive education policy, that ensures the optimum accommodation and inclusion of the full variety of educational needs in a single education system. Within this policy there has been a rightful emphasis on the development of parent-school collaborative partnerships. Parent-school collaborative partnerships encompass the involvement of parents and the community in all levels of the education of their children. It is clear that this way of viewing parents is in clear contrast to the authoritarian roles that educators played in the past and that the shift towards such a partnership with parents affects the very core of the way educators viewed
themselves and their roles. It thus calls for a shift in the attitude of educators, as the attitude of educators will affect their behaviour and finally their acceptance of their new roles. The goal of this study is to gain insight into the attitudes of educators towards parental involvement, in order to use the information to successfully facilitate the implementation of parent-school collaborative partnerships in schools. The goal is further to develop more positive attitudes, ultimately ensuring the success of inclusive education in South African schools. To achieve the above-mentioned goal, a specific school with a unique context was selected to form part of the research project. The school mainly serves
children from a nearby poverty-stricken informal settlement. A focus group interview was held with all the educators of the school and individual interviews were held with the acting headmistress as well as parents living in the settlement. The data analysis process was done according to the constant comparative method, where themes were identified and compared. From the data analysis process findings were categorised into four areas, namely attitudes of educators regarding the social context, the parent group, themselves
and parental involvement at the school. From the interviews it became evident that mosA of the educators do not always acknowledge the impact of the social context of most of the children and parents. This might lead to the high frustration levels of most of the educators, feeling that there is a general lack of responsibility and lack of caring within the parent community. Lack of communication and a lack of opportunities to be involved were also identified as possible barriers to parental involvement. Most of the participants had a limited view of ways in which the parent community can be involved and felt ambivalent
towards the importance of parental involvement in the education of children. Making the educators and parent group aware of these attitudes is important for a shift to take place towards better parental involvement at the school.