Barriers to Parental Involvement in the Education of Learners with Intellectual Disabilities

Josephine Oranga,Enock Obuba,Florence Boinnet

doi:10.4236/jss.2022.102029

Abstract

This study is an in-depth qualitative literature review on the barriers to parental involvement in the education of learners with intellectual disabilities. The review adopted Paulo Freire’s theory in an attempt to illustrate the significant role that parents are supposed to play in the education of their children with intellectual disabilities. The findings revealed that the barriers to enhanced parental involvement in the education of learners with intellectual disabilities include: low level of parental education, teachers’ negative attitude towards both the affected learners and their parents, economic constraints, stigmatization of intellectual disabilities, lack of support, parental stress/depression, lack of knowledge and skills, the number of siblings in the family, mismatched expectations (between parents and teachers), absence of legal/policy frameworks on parental involvement, absence of clear channels of communication between parents and school personnel and, the severity of the child’s disability. As a result of the findings, some suggestions to enhance parental involvement in the education of learners with intellectual disabilities are given, these include: parental education, economic emancipation of the parents, change of teachers’ attitude, specialized training for all persons handling learners with intellectual disability, establishment of positive home-school working relationships, proper legislation on handling people with disabilities, civic education on human rights and development of a policy framework to guide school-home collaborations.

Highlights

Studies (Stevenson & Baker, 1987; Rudney, 2005; Blacher & Hatton, 2007) reveal that children whose parents are more involved in school activities perform better in school than those whose parents are less involved
The findings revealed that the barriers to enhanced parental involvement in the education of learners with intellectual disabilities include: low level of parental education, teachers’ negative attitude towards both the affected learners and their parents, economic constraints, stigmatization of intellectual disabilities, lack of support, parental stress/depression, lack of knowledge and skills, the number of siblings in the family, mismatched expectations, absence of legal/policy frameworks on parental involvement, absence of clear channels of communication between parents and school personnel and, the severity of the child’s disability
The findings reveal that the barriers to parental involvement in the education of learners with intellectual disabilities are diverse and include: low level of parental education, teachers’ negative attitude towards parental participation in education, parental economic constraints, societal perceptions and stigmatization of intellectual disabilities, lack of knowledge of prognosis of intellectual disabilities, parental stress and depression, lack of support, parental perceptions of the teachers-school staff, absence of clear channels of home-school communication, mismatched expectations, the number of siblings in the family, severity of the child’s disability, differences in language between school staff and parents and absence of policy guidelines/framework that would guide parental involvement in education

Summary

Introduction

Studies (Stevenson & Baker, 1987; Rudney, 2005; Blacher & Hatton, 2007) reveal that children whose parents are more involved in school activities (like joining parent-teacher organizations, attending parent-teacher conferences and volunteering) perform better in school than those whose parents are less involved. Studies reveal that parental involvement in the education of children with disabilities besides helping improve their performance creates a motivating learning environment that is a prerequisite for enhanced educational outcomes for learners with intellectual disabilities. Parents are the first and most important teachers that children encounter and their involvement in their children’s education would accelerate and simplify learning, resulting in improved educational outcomes (Moroni et al, 2015). The importance of this role and its social expectations render it impossible for parents to relinquish or suspend this responsibility. This becomes even more imperative when children involved are exceptional that is, those with intellectual disability

Statement of the Problem

Methodology

Theoretical Framework

Conclusion

Recommendations