Understanding teachers' perspectives of factors that influence parental involvement practices in special education in Barbados

Abstract

Parental involvement has been defined in various ways by researchers and is reported to have many advantages for children's education. The research utilises a case study strategy to investigate teachers' perspectives of parental involvement at four case sites in Barbados. In‐depth interviews were done with teachers and analysis utilised content analysis of transcripts and open and axial coding frameworks. Findings suggest that one needs to understand the layered realities that dictate and influence the nature and level of parental participation in children's education. In‐school factors such as a lack of democratisation of parent consultation processes, discontinuation of programmes, how active Parent Teacher Associations were and out‐of‐school factors such as parents' levels of collaboration and coping influenced parental involvement at the case sites. More research is needed to understand how these factors shape and influence parental involvement in special education settings in Barbados.

Reimagining parental engagement in special schools – a practice theoretical approach

“…Rogers et al (2009) found that parents of children with ADHD in mainstream schools felt less able to help their children academically, and perceived less time and energy for involvement in their children's academic lives, compared to parents of children without ADHD. Similarly, teachers across four SEND settings in the study by Blackman and Mahon (2016) believed that some parents found it difficult to cope with their child's disability and were unsure how they could assist their child. Burke (2012) notes that parent-teacher meetings about children with SEND's Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are designed to involve parents in their child's education, but that it can be difficult for parents to be active participants in these meetings and contribute to decision making, whilst also listening to the school's perspective and not appearing aggressive.…”

How Can Social Capital Become a Facilitator of Inclusion?

“…After all, their children need more intensive care and attention, which makes everyday life more difficult. Because of this, they also have more difficulties in education and expect more and more effective support from teachers and other professional support staff [19,20,[77][78][79].…”

Bahamian Fathers' Involvement with Their Child’s Schooling: To What Extent does Family Structure Matter?

“…There are also a number of social and schoollevel barriers parents face that hinder their involvement. Societal barriers include work hours, limited finances, and household responsibilities (Blackman & Mahon, 2016;Cole, 2020;Munroe, 2009;Murphy, 2002). Some school-level barriers include teachers not wanting parents inside their classrooms (Munroe, 2009), parents not having voice in curricula decision-making for their child (Blackman & Mahon, 2016;Murphy, 2002), parents not having voice in school governance (Murphy, 2002;Walker, 2012), and school staff holding negative perceptions of parents (Watson-Williams et al, 2011).…”

“…Societal barriers include work hours, limited finances, and household responsibilities (Blackman & Mahon, 2016;Cole, 2020;Munroe, 2009;Murphy, 2002). Some school-level barriers include teachers not wanting parents inside their classrooms (Munroe, 2009), parents not having voice in curricula decision-making for their child (Blackman & Mahon, 2016;Murphy, 2002), parents not having voice in school governance (Murphy, 2002;Walker, 2012), and school staff holding negative perceptions of parents (Watson-Williams et al, 2011). While the Caribbean literature cites more school-level than societal-level barriers, more research is needed to clarify which barriers pose more problems.…”