Dominant Parenting Style of Parents in Aowin Municipality in the Western North Region of Ghana

Abstract

The aim of the research was to examine the influence of parenting styles on academic performance of students in Aowin Municipality in the Western North Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey design was employed to collect quantitative data from the respondents. The study targeted all final year public junior high school students in the Aowin Municipality. A multi-stage sampling technique which involved the use of probability sampling techniques was employed to select 252 respondents with 142 boys and 110 girls. The main data collection instrument was questionnaire with 46 items. Document analysis was also performed on the pupils’ end of term examination results. Means, standard deviation, multiple regression, Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation and Chi-square were employed to analyse the data. The results revealed that authoritative parenting style dominates in parents of the JHS students in the municipality. The study concluded that, Authoritative parenting style predominates in JHS students in the Aowin municipality. There was a correlation between the parenting style of parents and the academic performance of JHS students. It was seen that, student coming from the authoritative parenting style had high performance than those coming from the authoritarian, permissive and neglectful parenting style. Students from neglectful parenting homes demonstrated low performance in school. It is recommended that policies should be developed by Ministry of Education to encourage parents to adopt appropriate parenting styles like the authoritative parenting style which has been revealed by this study as related to good academic performance. Management of various schools should collaborate with Parent-Teacher Association to organize seminars and workshops to educate parents on the influences of the various parenting styles on their children academic performance. This will enlighten parents on employing effective parenting style like authoritative parenting style that has been revealed by this study to correlates with high academic performance.