Parental Involvement

Introduction

Parental involvement is a “social relation” (Coleman, 1990) in which exchange of capitals is taking place. Using Coleman's terms, it involves a structures of action in which activities or events happen within a given system. As a social structure, such involvement consists of actors namely but not limited to parents, teachers, and students. The structure is characterized by an exchange of resources driven by the interest of the actors (p. 130). Broad in scope, parental involvement may include keeping children safe, attending children's activities, and participating in community activities for the purpose of affecting children's academic performance. Parental involvement can also mean performance expectations, verbal motivation, direct involvement for academic progress, and academic supervision. It can also include parent's provision of educational resources to children. In Japan, the school-home relationship is notably strong because teachers consider parents as partners in children's education. Teachers and parents are partners in “promoting the well-being of children's minds and bodies” (Moorehead, 2007a). This connection is further strengthened through school programs such as the jyugyousankan (open school) and school practices such as the renrakuchou (contact notebook) and kateihoumon (homeroom teacher's home visit) (Jabar, 2010). In and outside the family contexts, mothers more than fathers are said to be more involved in children's education (. In fact, the strong bond between the mother and the child is the pillar of success of the Japanese educational system. Given this backdrop, this paper, therefore focuses on the experiences of Filipino mothers. However, owing to language and cultural differences, Filipino migrant mothers in Japan may experience challenges or difficulties as they participate in their children's education. Although in a different context, the study of Moorhead (2007b) described how Peruvian parents complained about the way Japanese teachers viewed them negatively (p. 9).

We live in a competitive and capitalist world in which educational attainment increases the probability of obtaining well- paying employment, ultimately leading to a higher standard of living. Students who demonstrate high academic achievement, measured by their grade point average (GPA), are more likely to graduate from college and those who graduate from college are more likely to achieve their career goal. According to Gordon-Rouse and Austin (2002), high school student participants who had a GPA greater than 2.75 were considered to be high achievers and typically demonstrated higher motivation in their education than those with lower GPAs. Rouse and Austin also suggested that those with a high GPA were more likely to prepare themselves for college and therefore have higher expectations to succeed academically. However, not all students perform well in college: the academic achievement of a student is impacted by many factors, including their ethnicity and the influence of parental involvement during their primary education.

Parental Involvement Strongly Impacts Student Achievement

Researchers Karen Smith Conway, professor of economics at the University of New Hampshire, and her colleague Andrew Houtenville, senior research associate at New Editions Consulting, found that parental involvement has a strong, positive effect on student achievement. “Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels ...