Investigation On Parents Participation In Education At Public Primary Schools In Laos

At the primary level,parental participation has an important impact on children’s education.In the past few decades,most schools have emphasized the involvement of parents in their children’s school life.Parents have become a very important resource for children.Therefore,the purpose of this research is to study parents and teachers based on Epstein’s 6 types of parent involvement(family parenting functions,home-school communication,acting as school volunteers,assisting children in learning at home,participating in school management decision-making,and cooperation with the community)Awareness of parent participation in public primary schools.Parents(n = 559),teachers(n = 22)and principals(n = 6)from 6 public primary schools participated in this study.In this study,teachers’ opinions were similar,but parents’ cognition was affected by demographic variables.The quantitative data were analyzed using ANOVA and Post-hoc analysis methods.The analysis results show that there are significant differences between parents in the three aspects of education level,family structure and family income;in the three demographic variables of education level,teaching experience and gender,there are no significant differences between teachers.T-test pointed out that there are significant differences in the cognition of parents and teachers in the six aspects of parent participation,and teachers’ cognition of each parent’s participation is better than that of parents.In addition,one parent,one teacher,and principal of each school were selected,and some qualitative data were collected through interviews.The results of qualitative research indicate that there are some factors that hinder the participation of primary school parents,such as the commitment of parents in the workplace,the participation of parents as teachers’ partners in teacher education programs,and the way in which parents are guided.By understanding the similar and different viewpoints among parents,teachers,and principals,the school system under study and other systems similar to it may develop more effective ways of parent participation to enhance effective communication between the family and the school.To improve students’ academic performance,the research provides local primary schools with knowledge and improvement ideas to support parent participation in the program,with the aim of improving students’ academic performance,thereby contributing to positive social change.In addition,establishing the relationship between parents and teachers,and increasing school activities can also encourage parents to participate in family and school education.It can be seen from this study that the more effective parent participation is implemented,the higher the satisfaction of the parent-teacher relationship.In order to better carry out parent participation activities in primary schools,the following suggestions are put forward: On the one hand,school leaders must be aware of how to interact in the community.The school can provide workshops for the community,organize seminars,propose a family visit plan,and increase social activities of parents and teachers.In addition,schools should conduct corresponding surveys to understand the interests and talents of parents,and select excellent parents to fill the vacancies of parent volunteers.On the other hand,schools should strengthen the cooperation training of teachers,parents,and community workers,especially those teachers who have just graduated from teacher training institutions.They should conduct targeted training and provide opportunities for pre-job teachers.They learn more about the concept of family and family income from the perspective of cultural diversity and different family structures,and help predict the differences in participation of in-service teachers and parents.Finally,parents should be invited to participate in school activities.The community should raise funds and encourage some parents to receive adult education to improve their literacy and numeracy skills.At the same time,the school should also invite parent representatives with interpersonal skills to participate in school activities.These parent representatives should also receive training to train other parents on how to interact with family learners,strengthen and expand skills in various fields,especially literacy and numeracy;these parents should be provided with specific subject training through literacy programs and practices,and the guidance of psychology and teaching.