Parents and teachers perceptions of roles, effectiveness, and barriers of parent involvement in early childhood education in Taipei of Taiwan (China)

The purpose of this study was to examine role perceptions, effectiveness, and barriers to parental involvement in schools. Using the random sampling technique, 857 parents and 177 teachers were selected from 41 private preschools and daycares in Taipei. Parents and teachers completed identical questionnaires that rated parents' preferences for direct and indirect involvement roles and the perceptions of parents' effectiveness in enhancing their children's school performances through these roles. The surveys also rated the extent to which barriers minimize parents' participation in school activities. A t-test was employed to compare parents' and teachers' perceived role preference, effectiveness, and barriers to parent involvement. Another method, ANOVA's, determined whether the various groups differed in perceived barriers to parent involvement and roles. A Post Hoc Tukey multiple comparison was performed to determine which groups differed from the others. A Pearson Correlation analyzed the relationship between barriers, effectiveness and current involvement. There were statistically significant differences between parents' demographics and "barrier of involvement"; teachers demographics and perceived "parents' role of involvement''. Overall, parents and teachers preferred direct involvement activities to indirect involvement activities; parents were slightly higher than teachers in role preference for direct involvement; parents rated themselves as being more effective in helping children through their participation in activities than teachers did. Teachers also reported that parents have more barriers to involvement than what parents themselves perceived. The findings of this study offer possible insight to improve the home-school partnerships in early childhood education.