The nature of parent participation at the high school level: an investigation

Given the lack of research in Canada in the area of high school parent participation, the goal of this study was to gain insight into their perceptions of the following: participation, advantages, changes, and barriers. Data was gathered from an urban high school in Alberta, Canada, using interviews from three randomly selected participants from each grade level (10, 11, 12), for a total of nine respondents and used a qualitative, narrative, and descriptive study design. Findings revealed that volunteering, attending activities, academic support, school council, and surveys constituted types of participation; provision of information, emotional support, and academic guidance were advantages; change was evident; barriers were classified as child-based challenges, school-based challenges, and parent-based limitations. Research concurred with previous literature, that parent participation decreased as their children aged. Based on the findings in this study, recommendations were made for high school principals wishing to enhance parent participation at their schools.

Authors

• Lal, Rita D.
• University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Education

• aids to parent participation
• barriers to parent participation
• high school
• perceptions of involvement
• school-parent relationship

Identifier

hdl:10133/5491

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:opus.uleth.ca:10133/5491