Perception on the role of parents in their children's education and possible intersections with socioeconomic factors : perspectives from Akkar

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the perceptions of Lebanese parents on their role in their children's education and explore possible relationship between their perceptions and their socio-economic status. A secondary focus was on students perspectives on homework assistance as an indicator of parental involvement. An exploratory study was conducted utilizing mixed methods of data collection. Considering that parental involvement has been sparsely studied in Lebanon, this exploratory approach is used in order to gain insights about the perceptions of Lebanese parents of their involvement in their childrens education, while particularly exploring possible relations between such preceptors and their socioeconomic status. A 4-point likert-scale questionnaire and multiple interviews were utilized with parents of fourth and fifth-graders of one private school and another public school in Akkar. There were notable differences in education and SES between the parents of the private-school students and those of the public school ones. Based on self-report on the questionnaires and interviews, there were no significant differences between the two groups on the different subscales of the questionnaire. Some differences were noted concerning school-related activities among the public-school parents and the private school ones in homework assistance patterns. Implications and recommendations are suggested based on the results.