Barriers to parental involvement in education: an explanatory model

The issue of parental involvement (PI) in education is notable for the extensive rhetoric supporting it and considerable variation in the reality of its practice. It is proposed that the gap between rhetoric and reality in PI has come about because of the influence of factors at the parent and family, child, parent–teacher and societal levels which act as barriers to the development of effective PI. This article presents a model which has been developed in order to clarify and elaborate on the barriers in each of these four areas. First, parent and family factors are discussed, focusing on parents’ beliefs about PI, parents’ current life contexts, parents’ perceptions of invitations for involvement, and class,…

• FP
  Family Process Institute