Taking parent volunteering beyond extra-curricular school activities: A startegy for effective and efficient engagement into classrooms for improved academic performances

This study explores the perspectives of students and parents on parent involvement, focusing on classroom demonstrations and worksite experiences, and at investigating the efficacy of involving parents from various fields of life in classroom activities to boost students’ academic performance and foster stronger parent-school partnerships and parent-child relationship. The participants include teachers, parents, students, local authorities and community leaders, from private and public schools, homes in cities, districts, and via social media. This study addresses the gap of direct parent participation within the classroom environment, and provides a framework for improved partnership among all the educational stakeholders (parents, teachers, members of the society, and local authorities), with some recommendations for the effective implementation of reforms in favor of parent engagement. Students’ views on parents’ involvement in education were collected using surveys that investigated some aspects related to parents’ involvements. The findings disclose that students express great enthusiasm toward parent involvement, especially through classroom demos and worksite trips. They think such engagement is conducive and helps to improved academic performance and parents-child relationship. The results also suggest that parents also welcome the idea of participating in classroom activities related to their professions. The majority express their willingness to conduct demonstrations and facilitating hands-on experiences for their children’s class in class or at their workplaces. The insights from this research bring some contributions to the academic question of effective strategies for engaging parents in their children's education.