Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Education--South Africa; Children, Black--Education--South Africa; Children, Black--Education; Education; Zulu (African people); South Africa;

Abstract

There has been a marked decline in the academic achievement of Black South African students. There has also been an increasing dropout rate among these students. This tendency toward school drop-out has brought about concern among Black educators and parents. Strategies need to be devised to reverse this trend. Developing a solid homeschool partnership might prove to be a way of enhancing students' achievement. This study investigated the beliefs that Zulu parents had regarding parental involvement in the education of their children. A random sample of 59 mothers and 58 grandmothers, who resided in Stanger-Maphumulo district, in Natal Province in the Republic of South Africa, were interviewed to assess their beliefs regarding: (a) perceived need for their involvement in the schooling of their children, (b) the level and extent of their involvement, and (c) roadblocks which mitigate their involvement. Results showed that 79% of the parents interviewed saw a need for their involvement in the education of their children. Parental level of involvement was lower than their perceived need for involvement. Parents indicated that there were roadblocks which minimized opportunities for involvement in the education of their children. This was reflected by the fact that only 40% felt they were in a position to participate in the education of their children. A major roadblock was the parents' low level of education. Lack of time was also mentioned as a factor inhibiting parental involvement. Although the study did not intend to examine attitudes of parents toward teachers, a number of parents cited teachers as a major stumbling block toward involvement. These findings are discussed in terms of their implication for the education of Black students in South Africa.

Year of Submission

1993

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education

Department

Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations

First Advisor

Carmen Montecinos

Second Advisor

Charles Dedrick

Third Advisor

Leander Brown

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

1993

Object Description

1 PDF file (99 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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