Barriers to African parental involvement in UK education

Project title:

Exploring barriers to African parental involvement in the UK education system

“Parental involvement has a significant effect on pupil achievement throughout the years of schooling. Cultural differences can impact on parental involvement.”

Researcher:

Project proposal:

Parental involvement has a significant effect on pupil achievement throughout the years of schooling. Cultural differences can impact on parental involvement (due to cultural-specific attitudes towards professionals, language barriers, lack of knowledge of the education system, differing goals and agendas between families and schools). Critiques of parental involvement practices have also focused on their culturally specific nature which hinders participation for socially vulnerable groups such as immigrants and minorities.

The project is aiming to identify barriers to parental involvement for African parents and further explore ways to promote inclusion in education spaces for parents and for their children. Focus groups have been completed with 32 African parents living in the UK and a thematic analysis presented at a conference, with an event planned for Spring 2024 focusing on African children living in the UK.

Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash

Themes: