Title: Parental Engagement in Children's Education: Motivating Factors in Japan and the U.S.
Abstract: IntroductionPromoting parental engagement in children's education has become a major goal for both policymakers and educators in the U.S. Ample evidence has demonstrated that parental engagement benefits children's development and academic progress (Fan & Chen, 2001; Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994; Pomerantz, Moorman, & Litwack, 2007). Accordingly, researchers have endeavored to identify factors that facilitate parents' willingness and ability to become engaged (Anderson & Minke, 2007; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997; Sheldon, 2002). Much of this work has been guided by a theoretical model developed by Hoover-Dempsey and her associates which identifies the following determinants of parental engagement in children's schooling: (a) parents' sense of responsibility for supporting their child's learning; (b) parenting self-efficacy in helping their children; (c) invitations from teachers; (d) invitations from children; and (e) family resources such as time, knowledge, and skills (HooverDempsey et al., 2005; Walker, Wilkins, Dallaire, Sandler, & Hoover-Dempsey, 2005). Empirical studies have generally supported the Hoover-Dempsey framework for middle class families in the U.S. (Anderson & Minke, 2007; Green, Walker, Hoover-Dempsey, & Sandler, 2007; Park & Holloway, 2013; Sheldon, 2002; Walker, Ice, Hoover-Dempsey, & Sandler, 2011).In spite of increasing evidence indicating the benefits of parental engagement in international contexts (e.g., Buchmann, 2002; Gao, 2012; Yamamoto & Brinton, 2010), little effort has been made to examine the factors that contribute to it in countries outside the U.S., and little is known about whether the model can be generalized to other countries. Indeed, it is likely that cultural factors affect parents' decisions regarding engagement above and beyond the factors identified by Hoover-Dempsey and colleagues, as has been found in studies of immigrants and members of nondominant ethnic groups within the U.S. (Garcia Coll & Marks, 2009; Greenfield, Quiroz, & Raeff, 2000; Park & Holloway, 2013; Sy & Schulenberg, 2005; Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch, Greenfield, & Quiroz, 2001; Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch, & Hernandez, 2003; Walker et al., 2011). By identifying the factors that promote parental engagement in various cultural contexts, researchers can assist in the development of effective policies and practices in other nations as well as for American families from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. In addition, insights based on values and practices in other cultural contexts can shed light on those of the dominant culture reflected in U.S. schooling.In this study, we focused on three determinants of parental engagement from the broader range identified in the Hoover-Dempsey model: parental role construction, parenting self-efficacy, and parents' perception of teacher invitations. Due to our focus on parents' psychological beliefs and school contexts across the two nations, we used family resources as controls and decided not to examine individual children's attributes. Because of the heightened maternal role in socializing and educating their children in Japan, we focused on mothers in our examination of parental engagement. Of particular interest was the extent to which these three motivational factors were associated with Japanese and American mothers' home- and school-based engagement at the second grade level. While these two countries are comparable in terms of economic development, government structure, and educational system, the expectations of school staff regarding parental engagement differ in key respects, as we detail below.Parental Engagement in Japan and the U.S.The term parental engagement, also referred to as parental involvement, encompasses behaviors that directly or indirectly support a child's school experiences at home or school (Pomerantz et al., 2007). Home-based engagement includes parental assistance with homework and engagement in intellectually stimulating activities such as reading aloud or visiting a museum (Epstein, 1987; Pomerantz et al. …
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 36
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