Behind the Scenes? A Study of Parental Involvement in Post-Primary Education [esri.ie]
- Published: 13 January 2011
The most comprehensive study to date of Irish parents’ involvement in their children’s education is published today (13 January 2011). The Irish Constitution sees parents as the ‘primary educators’ of their children and parents are increasingly seen as ‘partners’ in the educational process. But we know very little about parents’ own perspectives or their level of involvement. Behind the Scenes? draws on surveys of, and in-depth interviews with, parents of senior cycle students as well as insights from school personnel. The study highlights many new findings relating to parental involvement in schooling, including:
Irish parents play a very important role in their children’s education.
- Choosing a particular school affects a young person’s educational experience and later life-chances through their access to particular subjects, subject levels and programmes.
- Active school choice is common among all social groups in Ireland, with higher professional parents being more likely to send their child to a school outside the local area.
- In choosing a second-level school, parents take into account a multiplicity of factors, and the majority of young people play a role in the process. There is evidence of some middle-class parents displaying long-term active choice, by taking into account feeder primary schools when choosing a post-primary school.
- Parents are the main source of advice as young people make choices about what subjects to take, which programmes to select, what to do after leaving school, and whether to remain in school or not. This highlights the importance of providing parents with the information necessary to assist their children in these choices.
- Informal parental involvement, through discussing educational decisions, is associated with improved exam performance among young people.
