Omani Parents’ Involvement in Their Children’s English Education

Rahma Al-Mahrooqi,Faisal Al-Maamari,Christopher Denman

doi:10.1177/2158244016629190

Abstract

High levels of parental/guardian involvement in their children’s education are often associated with a number of educational, social, and even psychological benefits. These include higher rates of school attendance, greater communication with the school or education provider, better social adjustment, and higher levels of academic achievement including in the development of literacy skills. However, despite this, research from the Arab world on the relationship between parental involvement and children’s development of English language literacy skills has tended to report mixed results, with this also being the case in the Sultanate of Oman. To explore this issue within the Omani context, the current study examined the potential benefits, challenges, and practices of Omani parents as these relate to their children’s English language studies. A two-section Likert-type response scale questionnaire was administered to 391 parents of students in the country’s public school system. The first questionnaire section related to participants’ attitudes about parental involvement in their children’s English studies while the second explored the frequency with which parents engaged in activities related to their children’s English classes. Results indicate that Omani parents are generally aware of the importance of their involvement in their children’s development and believe that they should be involved in a number of home- and school-based activities. However, despite this, their actual level of involvement in their children’s English language studies was somewhat limited.

Highlights

The type and level of parental/guardian involvement in their children’s schooling has often been posited as one of the most important factors associated with educational success
The two items that received the highest levels of agreement were “parental involvement in children’s school results in higher student academic performance” and “parental involvement helps in solving students’ academic and educational problems promptly and effectively.”
Results here indicate that Omani parents are generally aware of the importance of their involvement on their children’s academic, social, and even psychological development

Summary

Introduction

The type and level of parental/guardian involvement in their children’s schooling has often been posited as one of the most important factors associated with educational success. Berthelsen and Walker (2008), offering an overview of the work of scholars including Reynolds and Clements (2005), Ho and Willms (1996), and Dimock, O’Donoghue, and Robb (1996), maintain that parental involvement can be viewed in terms of parental behavior toward, and expectations of, their children’s schooling and the actions they subsequently take in this regard either at the school or at home. This perspective can be argued to encompass such constructs as parents participating at their children’s schools, communicating with the school, discussing with their children what they have done during school time, and supervising schoolwork at home

Methods

Results

Conclusion