Improving Parental Engagement: A Case Study of an Exemplary Public Teacher in Istanbul Turkey

• In Event: CIES Tuesday Roundtables
  In Group Roundtable Paper Session: Teaching and Technology for Learners with Disabilities (Table 15)

Proposal

Abstract
This multiple case study examines practices of a Turkish teacher as he engages his parents in education of their children in a public school of Istanbul, Turkey. Initial findings of a critical discourse analysis suggest that how parental engagement looks like in a school is determined through complex and enduring negotiations between teachers, administrators and parents.
For very long, parents were seen as outsiders in schools, but for the last couple of decades schools have been ineffectively trying to invite and engage them in education. This study aims to help researchers and practioners (teachers, school administrators and parents) to better understand parental engagement and show possible ways through which they can improve parental engagement.
Introduction
Engaging parents in education has become a heated topic for researchers and policymakers across the world. Many has claimed that improving parental engagement can improve school outcomes (Kotaman, 2008; Jeynes, 2012; Sad, 2012; Sheldon & Epstein, 2005) and can help schools diminishing achievement gap between various groups of students (Dearing, Kreider, Simpkins, & Weiss, 2006; Hampton, Mumford, & Bond, 1998). Inspired by the promise of improved parental engagement, also Turkey has been trying to encourage its teachers to engage their parents in education of their children. However, despite all the efforts, engaging parents in public schools still remains as an important problem beyond any simple solution, and even gets worse in correlation with parents’ socioeconomic status (Balkar, 2009; Bellibas & Gumus, 2013; Benson & Martin, 2003; Erdoğan & Demirkasımoğlu, 2010; Henderson, & Mapp, 2002). At this point, this case study research tries to examine practices of a Turkish teacher who is acknowledged by his success for engaging his parents in meaningful ways.
Methods
Designed as a qualitative case study, this inquiry intends to focus on one successful case and examine it thoroughly in its context as it engages with the phenomena (parental engagement). Data for the study comes from three sources: interviews with teachers and parents, observations in the school site and from related documents. Critical discourse analysis was utilized to deeply analyse the data not only to discover the effective practices, but also to analyse what was ineffective and missing in the case.
(Initial) Findings
Initial findings suggest that parental engagement is about responsibility. The concept brings different responsibilities for different stakeholders and achieving it in the intended ways requires all the stakeholders to be, first, aware of their responsibilities; second, accept and take in with these responsibilities; and third, fulfil these duties.
However, participants in this study suggested that Turkish schools are far away from fulfilling these responsibilities. As the three main stakeholders, parents, teachers and school administrators operate as three competing power dynamics, each with a different agenda for the practice (parental engagement). Teachers and administrators tend to have a very restrictive perspective for defining and implementing parental engagement in their schools. Initial findings show that parental engagement practices are disturbed by the domination of these restrictive perspectives. In other words, teachers and school administrators gradually teach parents that instruction and school administration are two professional job in which parents have no business. As a result of such approaches, parents are slowly and gradually alienated from school spaces.
References
Balkar, B. (2009). Okul-aile işbirliği sürecine ilişkin veli ve öğretmen görüşleri üzerine nitel bir çalışma. Çukurova Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 3(36), 105-123.
Bellibas, M. S., & Gumus, S. (2013). The Impact of Socio-Economic Status on Parental Involvement in Turkish Primary Schools: Perspective of Teachers. International Journal of Progressive Education, 9(3).
Benson, F., & Martin, S. (2003). Organizing successful parent involvement in urban schools. Child Study Journal, 33(3), 187-194.
Dearing, E., Kreider, H., Simpkins, S., & Weiss, H. B. (2006). Family involvement in school and low-income children's literacy: Longitudinal associations between and within families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(4), 653.
Erdogan, Ç., & Demirkasımoglu, N. (2010). Ailelerin eğitim sürecine katılımına ilişkin öğretmen ve yönetici görüşleri. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi, 16(3), 399-431.
Hampton, F. M., Mumford, D. A., & Bond, L. (1998). Parent involvement in inner-city schools: The project FAST extended family approach to success. Urban Education, 33(3), 410-427. doi:10.1177/0042085998033003006
Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. Annual Synthesis 2002. National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools.
Jeynes, W. (2012). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of different types of parental involvement programs for urban students. Urban Education, 47(4), 706-742.
Kotaman, H. (2008). Türk ana babalarinin çocuklarinin egitim ögretimlerine katilim düzeyleri. Uludag Üniversitesi Egitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 21(1), 135-149.
Sheldon, S. B., & Epstein, J. L. (2005). Involvement counts: Family and community partnerships and mathematics achievement. The Journal of Educational Research, 98(4), 196-207.
Sad, S. N. (2012). Investigation of parental involvement tasks as predictors of primary students’ Turkish, math, and science & technology achievement. Egitim Arastirmalari-Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 49, 173-196.

Author

• Serafettin Gedik, Michigan State University