PARENTAL CAPACITY AND ENGAGEMENT FOR HOME-BASED

LEARNING IN THE DISTRICT OF LUPAO, NUEVA ECIJA

GRACE PARUNGAO PADIGOS

A master’s thesis submitted to the faculty of the School of Graduate Studies,

Core Gateway College, Inc., San Jose City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION

(Educational Management)

JUNE 2020
 INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest challenge encountered in the

education system worldwide. It has resulted in schools shut all across the world.

Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom. The protection of children

and educational facilities is particularly important. Precautions are necessary to prevent

the potential spread of COVID-19 in school settings. However, care must also be taken to

avoid stigmatizing students, teachers, and staff who may have been exposed to the virus.

Educators, along with parents and stakeholders are searching for effective ways to

teach students during this crisis. Many principals and school system leaders across the

country have echoed some version of this statement in the rapid shift to distance learning

forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are so many crucial equity questions in

distance learning, but the importance of parent involvement in academic outcomes have

never been in question. As a result, education has changed dramatically, students need to

continue their education through a home learning with parents’ involvement. The only

way to prevent COVID-19 from deepening inequality for an entire generation of children

is to equip families to support learning at home. This is especially true in the pivotal early

grades, in which children’s learning frequent adult facilitation. Most children have two

main educators in their lives- their parents and their teachers. Parents are the first teachers

until their child attends an early years setting or starts school and they remain a major

influence on their children’s learning throughout school and beyond. The school and

parents both have crucial roles to play. Parent’s involvement in teaching their child from

an early age has been found to equate and consistently associated with a better outcomes.

Parental encouragement and support for learning activities at home combined with
parental involvement in schooling is critical to children’s education. A growing body of

research shows that building effective partnerships between parents, families and schools

to support children’s learning leads to improved learning outcomes. Parents are the first

and continuing educators of their children, they are the experts on their children. Whereas

teachers change annually, parents accumulate a wealth of knowledge about their children

as learners. Moreover, they are uniquely positioned to read with their kids in a one-on-

one setting. Research also shows that teacher quality, including standards and training in

parental engagement, is important for facilitating effective parental engagement.

Accordingly, the researcher have yet to see whether the home-based learning with

the parent’s involvement will apply to a new normal post COVID-19. It is one of the few

sectors where investment has not dried up. What has been made clear through this

pandemic is the importance of disseminating knowledge across borders, companies, and

all parts of society. If the parents’ involvement can play a role in a new normal, it is

incumbent upon all of us to explore its full potential.

Statement of the Problem

People are living amidst what is potentially one of the greatest threats to global

education, a gigantic educational crisis. The public elementary schools in the Philippines

would find it hard to cope because the home-based learning nationwide is rarely been

applied. Although, in such that case, this difficulty will be altering the face of education

in our public system, seeing the possibility of the parental capacity and engagement for

the home-based learning starting at the kinder level up. The researcher believes that the

collaboration between family and school will lessen the problem in education due to

COVID-19 situation. Thus, this study needs to determine the preparations of the parents
and their engagement to the home-based learning for their children. This study will try to

promote a new technique in order to teach the elementary pupils despite of the Covid-19

pandemic situation.

Objectives of the Study

The study will emphasize the parental capacity and engagement for the home-

based learning among the parents of selected elementary schools in Lupao District during

the summer of School Year 2019-2020.

Specifically, it aims to:

a. describe the socio-demographic characteristics of the parent-respondents

in terms of sex, age, number of children, highest educational attainment,

occupation, and monthly income;

b. explore parents’ perception about the home-based learning;

c. know the roles of parents’ involvement in the home-based learning

d. determine the preparations of the parents’ capacity and engagement for the

home-based learning

Significance of the Study

Study on the parental capacity and engagement for the home-based learning is

quite important factor to consider in relation to individualized education amidst Covid-19

pandemic situation. It is considered the key educational improvement and prevent

students exposed from the said virus. It is a new fundamental tool with which to work

with students and a basic framework upon which a theory and practice of instruction can

be built.
 Parental engagement is defined as an activity that supports children’s learning at

home, at school and in the community. Parental engagement in children’s learning and

the quality of the home learning environment are associated with improved academic

outcomes at all ages. Personalized school communications can improve children’s

learning and attendance. It is important that the communication to parents flows into

ways, so that they both receive and provide meaningful communication, from and to the

school. Messages and letters are more effective “if they are personalized, linked to

learning and promote to positive interactions by, for example, celebrating success” (Van

Poortvliet, Axford & Lloyd, 2018).

Result of this study may serve to guide educational approaches matched to

facilitate learning as a well as to enhance development due to the pandemic situation. It

is expected that the parental capacity and engagement for the home-supported learning

can help students to learn well and better.

Furthermore, this study gives informational guidance to parents and their children

the importance of having a quality time together. It seeks to emphasize the fundamental

aims of engaging the parent in home-supported learning of his/her child, to prevent the

child from the exposure of the virus, and gives parents’ preparedness when the pandemic

reoccur.

This study shows the mission of all education systems is the same. It is to

overcome the learning crisis we were already living and respond to the pandemic we are

all facing. The challenge today is to reduce as much as possible the negative impact this

pandemic will have on learning and schooling and build on this experience to get back on

a path of faster improvement in learning. As education systems cope with this crisis, they
must also be thinking of how they can recover stronger, with a renewed sense of

responsibility of all actors and with a better understanding and sense of urgency of the

need to close the gap in opportunities and assuring that all children have the same

chances for a quality education.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The researcher specifically aims to emphasize the parental capacity and

engagement for the home-based learning in selected elementary schools in the District of

Lupao, Nueva Ecija. In this context of the study, it will determine whether home-based

learning helps in the learning of their children amidst pandemic crisis.

 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This study builds on research that seeks to understand the parental capacity and

engagement for the home-based learning of their children. It specifically looks at the

perception and importance of engaging the parents into the homeschool support group on

the decision to homeschool. This chapter reviews the literature and studies both local and

foreign which serve as a strong foundation of this study.

Socio-Demographic Characteristics of the Parent-Respondent

Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondent such as age, sex, number of

children, highest educational attainment, occupation, and family income have an impact

on learner’s education in this pandemic situation. These are presented and discussed in

the succeeding parts.

Age

One of the most common and widely accepted ways to assess the learning of

students and the effectiveness of their educational environments is via academic

achievement as measured by standardized tests. Many policymakers, educators, school

administrators, and parents, who are interested in test scores, wonder whether ordinary

mothers and fathers, who are not government-certified teachers, are capable of continuing

the teaching of their children after age 5 via what is called homeschooling. Because of

this central question, policymakers, researchers, and even parents wonder whether it is

possible for adults without specialized, university-level training in teaching to instruct

children in an effective manner with respect to academics (Murphy,2012; Ray, 2000,2005

& 2013).
 Adults who were home educated possessed higher ACT scores, GPAs, and

graduation rates when compared to institutionally schooled students (Medlin, 2013). To

date, research is consistent that adults who were home educated are faring as well

as or better than the general adult population on all constructs considered (Ray

2013).

Sex

  Girls often report high anxieties and stress as they get older in public schools.

However, homeschoolers have more emotional freedom. There is no peer pressure,

bullying, or other social pressures. Instead, the environment allows girls to be

themselves. (Sheffer, 2008) found that homeschooled girls in their teens did not have the

same loss of self-esteem, and transitioned in more emotionally mature adults.

Parents choose to homeschool their children for a variety of reasons, and these

reasons have been generally grouped into two motives: ideological, and pedagogical.

Ideological motives include parents wanting to raise their children with certain values,

ideas, ethics, and morals not to be found in the public school system. Thus, ideological

motives are often religiously based, and individuals who homeschool their children for

ideological reasons are typically, though not solely, religious conservatives in nature

(Basham et al., 2007).

Pedagogical motives include concerns that the public school system is not

effective in imparting knowledge or tending to the unique learning styles of individual

children, and, therefore, children are at risk for academic and emotional suffering

(Romanowski, 2006). Other reasons for homeschooling include wanting to strengthen

family bonds among family members, providing guided and high-quality social

interactions with both adults and peers, and educating children in a safe environment

away from the pressures and increasing violence that surround public schools (Ray,

2016).

Homeschoolers have been perceived in a number of ways, both positively and

negatively. Negative perceptions about homeschoolers appear to be more prevalent than

positive perceptions, as evidenced by the number of negative stereotypes that exist about

homeschoolers. Researchers examining this topic state that the biggest misconception

about homeschoolers is that they are unsocialized (Arai, 1999; Basham et al. 2007;

Kelley, 1991; Lois, 2009; Medlin, 2000; Medlin, 2006; Romanowski, 2006; Taylor

1986).

This is due to the perception that the term “homeschooled” is equated with the

idea of children spending all day every day with immediate families and no other outside

or peer influences (Basham et al., 2007, p. 16). Homeschoolers have also been referred to

as “social misfits”, “socially and educationally handicapped”, “backwards”, and “elitist”

(Arai, 1999, p. 4; Drenovsky and Cohen, 2012; Lois, 2009; Romanowski, 2006, p. 125).

Other stereotypes include the ideas that homeschoolers are sheltered, narrow-

minded, religious extremists, and unprepared for college (Drenovsky and Cohen, 2012;

Lois, 2009; Romanowski, 2006, p. 127). There has even been concern that

homeschoolers, who are socialized outside of the system of traditional educational

institutions, are “good citizens,” because they may not have been imparted the values that

go into citizenship building alongside the rest of society (Arai, 1999, p. 2)

Because the stereotype of homeschoolers as unsocialized is among the more

prevalent claims against homeschooling, most research on homeschooling focuses on or

touches on the topic of socialization in some way (Arai, 1999; Basham et al. 2007;

Cardinale, 2013; Kelley, 1991; Lois, 2009; Medlin, 2000; Medlin, 2006; Ray, 2016;

Romanowski, 2006; Taylor, 1986). The findings of these studies consistently show that,

in general, homeschoolers are not in fact socially deprived (Basham et al., 2007; Kelley,

1991), as they are learning the proper rules for appropriate social behavior (Medlin, 7

2000), regularly engaged in social activities outside the home (Basham et al., 2007; Ray,

2016), possess adequate social skills (Medlin, 2006), well-prepared for college

(Cardinale, 2013; Drenovsky and Cohen, 2012), and have plenty of opportunities for

socialization (Kelley, 1991).

Studies that use accounts from homeschoolers similarly affirm that

homeschoolers themselves do not feel particularly “socially scarred” or discontented with

the socialization experience of homeschooling (Cardinale, 2013, p. 163). Homeschoolers

also tend to claim they are more cooperative, competent, empathetic, effective

writers/speakers, and understanding of others as compared to their public schooled peers,

and feel well-prepared for college (Cardinale 2013; Duggan, 2009; Medlin, 2006).

Raymond and Dorothy Moore’s research (1975, 1981) on childhood development

and learning promoted homeschooling as a legitimate educational option and provided

parents with support for their decision to homeschool.

 Likewise, John Holt’s (1982) writings about pedagogy supporting what is

commonly known as “unschooling” and his newsletter, Growing without Schooling

(1977), served to stimulate and support interest in this alternative educational option.

Summarizing this early development of homeschooling, Van Galen (1988)

categorizes parents’ reasons for homeschooling as either based on ideology (religious or

moral) or on pedagogy (curriculum content or educational needs of the child).

Homeschooling has been shown to benefit students in a number of ways, and

these benefits of homeschooling may be evidence for the existence of positive

perceptions of homeschooling. In the realm of academics, Ray (2016) cites that

homeschoolers outperform their traditionally schooled peers on standardized academic

achievement tests, and Ray (2016) and Romanowski (2006) cite that generally,

homeschoolers score at or above average on SAT/ACT standardized tests. Rudner (1999)

in his study found that homeschoolers possessed exceptionally high achievement test

scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills that were well above those of their traditionally

schooled peers.

Homeschooled students have been shown to be more advanced in their social,

emotional, and psychological development compared to their public and private schooled

peers (Basham et al., 2007; Cardinale, 2013; Duggan, 2009; Ray, 2016; Taylor, 1986).

Homeschoolers tend to claim they can clearly and effectively write and speak, think

analytically and critically, understand themselves and others from different backgrounds,

develop clear career goals and skills, and develop proper time-management skills

(Duggan, 2009). Homeschooled individuals also consider themselves well-prepared for

college-level study (Cardinale, 2013). With respect to mental health, a study by

Drenovsky and Cohen (2012) found that homeschoolers possessed significantly lower

depression scores than their traditionally schooled peers.

Parents choose to homeschool their children for various reasons, for instance, they

do not approve of the school environment, are not satisfied with the level of academics at

school and want a more advanced curriculum, want a more rigorous religious studies for

their children, try to protect their children against bullying at schools, desire to emphasize

moral values, have a child with special needs who requires more time and attention, or

other reasons (Murphy, 2012; Noel, Stark, & Redford, 2013). Collom (2005) explains

that motivation for homeschooling may vary from one family to another and even within

one family from one child to the next (as cited in Murphy, 2012).

According to Martin-Chang, Gould and Meuse (2011), one of the main reasons

for homeschooling was parents being dissatisfied with the traditional public school

education. Gaither (2009) and McReynolds (2007) provided some of the reasons for

homeschooling that varied from religious, learning disabilities, student athletes or

celebrity, to issues at schools such as bullying.

Collum and Mitchel’s (2005) contention that, studying homeschool support

groups as educational organizations provides the opportunity to gain unique perspectives

on parental involvement with education. Prior studies, including those by Lamb (2009)

and Barlow and Humphries (2012) document the variation in the perceptions of parents

of children with special educational needs concerning the opportunities for parental

involvement with their child’s school.

 Goldring and Phillips (2008) focused on the parents’ choice between public

magnet schools and private schools. Goldring and Phillips’ findings suggested that

parent’s were “not necessarily ‘pushed’ out of public schools because of dissatisfaction”

(p.227) but rather ‘pulled’ to choose a school that allowed for a higher level of

collaboration between teachers and parents. Building on these prior studies, this study

focuses on homeschooling parents and their involvement with homeschool support

groups, which are created, run and used by parents.

According to the Dodson (2010), family-school partnerships are collaborative

relationships and activities involving school staff, parents and other family members of

students at a school. Effective partnerships are based on mutual trust and respect, and

shared responsibility for the education of the children and young people at the school.

Families are the first educators of their children and they continue to influence their

children’s learning and development during the school years and long afterwards.

Schools have an important responsibility in helping to nurture and teach future

generations and families trust schools to provide educational foundations for their

children’s future. At the same time, schools need to recognize the primary role of the

family in education. This is why it is important for families and schools to work together

in partnership. Family involvement in schools is therefore central to high quality

education and is part of the core business of schools.

Research from the Johns Hopkins Surveys of Schools and Family Connections

(Epstein and Becker, 1987) showed that teachers believe that parents' help is necessary if

schools are to solve problems. Teachers mainly requested that parents review or practice

activities that were taught in class. Some researchers have focused on how to increase
teachers' understandings of the literacy practices that go on in any home (Brice-Heath,

1983; Cochran, 1987; Slaughter, 1988) which understanding have been shown to enhance

teachers' effectiveness.

When discussing parental involvement in relation to homeschooling, parents are

considered in the role of teacher. Research in psychology and education identified

teachers’ confidence and feelings of self-efficacy as being crucial to their success in how

they teach and how their students learn (Poulou, 2007)

Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s (1997) work suggested that parents with a high

sense of self-efficacy towards helping their children with school work exhibited a higher

level of parental involvement in their child’s education. A child’s sense of self-efficacy is

also directly attributed to his/her motivation for academic achievement (Bandura, 1977).

Goldring and Phillips (2008) explain that “one of the most important ways in

which parents are involved in their children’s education is through choosing the school

they attend”.

When parents involve themselves in the education process of their children,

usually the outcome can be qualified as a positive and encouraging one. In this regard,

they are usually connected and act under their own parental attitudes, which are

transmitted through their demonstration of mutual confidentiality regarding the children’s

capabilities and their overall learning capacity which leads them towards succeeding over

the learning, education as a complex process. Therefore, parents should get involved in

supporting their children in doing their homework, as in this way they offer their parental

support as one of the key strategies leading towards a successful education of their
children at school. Educational level of children in the family depends more on the level

of the parent’s education, so this factor strongly affects family relationships and the

successful development of children. (Matilov, Naum. 2002).

According to Ron Spreeuwenberg (2019), parent involvement helps extend

teaching outside the classroom, creates a more positive experience for children and helps

children perform better when they are in school. It is essential for parents to support the

learning that happens in preschool settings at home as well. Parents who are in tune with

what is happening in their child’s preschool classroom or child care facility are better

able to establish a connection between what is learned at school and what takes place in

the home. This connection is a key component of a child’s development and supporting

further learning. Not only does family or parental involvement help extend teaching

outside the classroom; it creates a more positive experience for children and helps

children perform better when they are in school. Parent involvement in early childhood

education can extend the experiences that a child has in the classroom to real-world

activities that happen in the home. A parent who understands what their child is working

on at preschool has a better sense of their child’s competency and which areas they need

to work on to improve confidence and ability. Parental and family involvement in early

childhood education will help improve learning outcomes for children by ensuring that

they have all the support they need to succeed. Part of this process involves detailed

documentation, so teachers and parents have a complete picture of how a child is

progressing and can act accordingly.

Parental involvement in the form of ‘at-home good parenting’ has a significant

positive effect on children’s achievement and adjustment even after all other factors
shaping attainment have been taken out of the equation. In the primary age range the

impact caused by different levels of parental involvement is much bigger than differences

associated with variations in the quality of schools. The scale of the impact is evident

across all social classes and all ethnic groups. (Desforges 2003).

The mother as an educator. Mother is the first and the best teacher- proverb.

(Good, 1988) The role of the woman or the mother as an educator represents a crucial

resource to the development of the individual identity, which from researchers is seen

even as more important as the very marital status of the parents and the occupation of the

parents themselves. It seems that the feeling of being a mother, to the woman is more

powerful than being a father of given child for the husband. Always in accordance to the

biological as well as physiological relation of mother to the child, represents the first and

reasonable part or segment of the child’s development. This for the reason that mother

assures child’s life, as she is the one who brings the child in this world, and further on she

raises them from being little towards reaching a total independency in mature life.

Another group of activities in this regard, are the maternal functions regarding the

child’s development involving here the physical development, the intellectual

development as well as the emotional development of the child. (Grancic, Radovan,

2006).

Each child which grows up and is educated in the presence of mother, for sure is

expected to reach an appropriate physical, psychological as well as social development.

In this regard, these children have a much better appearance, the look happy and they

enjoy the childhood in general. They are communicative and as such they are ready to

cooperate. (Brada, Riza. 1995)

 For this reason, mother’s love and care to the child, is full and well completed,

and as such is often accepted by other members of the very family. This type of

cultivated love and affection can be qualified as a key condition for an appropriate

development of the children in a given family. The children experience the physical as

well as psychological effects of the mother, and as such they are taken as model which

influences their further development during their emotional stage of development of their

moral values as whole. This element of the so called child’s identification, the child

embeds it in his/her personality for years on and on, throughout his/her total lifespan. It is

planted in their character as well as temperament, and as such it is reflected through his/

her attitudes and thoughts in interaction or behavior comportment with the society in

general. Almost all culture have developed arrangements which enable mothers to

provide for basic child care while maintaining other duties that are instrumental to family

well – being. (James, Garbarino. 1982).

The Father as an educator. This person is extremely important factor in the

organization of the family life as a whole, which are the basic ground towards a happily

and joyful family for all the members of a respective family. Many young fathers want to

do things better than how they have experienced in their lives. (Claudia&Eberhard

Muhlan. 2008)

However, the so called subjective experiencing of the parents by their children

varies in different ways and family models, and as such his relevance in a family is much

more different from the one that is performed by mothers. As a result of the gender

prejudices in terms of the duties to be performed in their family, especially regarding

their approach and contribution towards their children’s education, it turns out that
mothers are more prepared to undertake their role in their children’s education, rather

than their fathers. Fathers make a powerful difference in defining expectation and

challenging children to do their best. (Constantine, Tammy. 1999)

As such, the children learn their responsibilities and role in the family, when they

themselves grow up and become parents, which is they are mature to play the father’s

role in this regard. Given this theory, there has been done much research, which proves

that the relationship between father and child becomes stronger. This relationship does

not result to be dependent from neither of the other two relations i.e. the one between

father and child neither the one mother-child. (Cowan, C. 1992)

Firstly, while the parent’s principal role in the family is the education and the

bringing up of their children, then the main obligation of their children is to study harder

and properly. For this aim, they need to be well instructed how to study, based upon rules

and principles of an appropriate learning and studying. This approach would open to

them the doors of the world of a behaviorist attitude towards the work, making possible

for them to get to know better the relevance of working as one of the main behaviorist

elements of the human kind. Secondly, the development of the child is in fact an overall

child’s personality formation. The parents as educators must be able to recognize the

basic features of their child, interests, temperament and especially the child’s emotional

features regarding the child’s character. Thirdly, the child’s personality formation has

resulted to be constructed mostly based upon child’s socialization in general. The

socialization process as such, for sure nowadays represents the most important one of all

other processes involved in his formation as a child. Thus, the child commences to

socialize within a given society since the early stage of his/her childhood at parents’
 home, circled by parental atmosphere and the relationship between family members in

general. In this entourage, the child makes the first steps in the society, manifesting the

basic features of behavior, which as such are the fundaments of further social

development and integration of the child in a given society. (Lakinska, Divna, 2006)

While parents, family, and community members may assume specific roles as

they become involved in the education of children, for example as volunteers in the

classroom (see Epstein and Connors' typology, 1993), a synthesis of the literature reveals

three overarching roles that are created in the development and implementation of parent

and community involvement programs (Lyons, Robbins and Smith, l983; Lynn, l994).

Each of these roles is actualized in very different ways in relationships in classrooms,

schools, and school districts:

 Parents as the primary resource in the education of their children is best exemplified

in home learning. Home learning is the activity, or set of activities, that parents and

family members may engage in to help their children succeed academically. This

partnership role between parents and/or family members and schools may have the

greatest impact on achievement.

 Parents and community members as supporters and advocates for the education of

their children is facilitated through site-based school restructuring. Restructuring

schools to create parent and community partnerships with schools focuses on

organizational structure. Changing activities; creating new relationships between parents,

families, communities, and schools; and implementing innovative strategies are ways that

schools can restructure to facilitate parent and community involvement in this role.
 Parents and community members as participants in the education of all

children incorporates a broader vision in the partnership between schools and the

populations they serve. Districtwide programs provide the vehicle for parents and

community members to be involved in roles that reach beyond the immediate impact of

an individual child to the impact on all children in the district.

According to Janet Goodall and John Vorhaus, “Parental engagement must be

planned for and embedded in a whole school or service strategy. The planning cycle will

include a comprehensive needs analysis; the establishment of mutual priorities; ongoing

monitoring and evaluation of interventions; and a public awareness process to help

parents and teachers understand and commit to a strategic plan.

The practical strategies that schools can provide parents with in relation to

home-supported learning vary greatly depending on the age of the child (Education

Endowment Foundation, 2020b; Evidence for Learning, 2019b).

Parents of preschool children can encourage their child’s oral language

development through conversation and read to their children (Bus et al., 1995;

Education Endowment Foundation, 2020a; Houen et al., 2020). For primary-aged

children, parents can support reading activities (Sénéchal & Young, 2008) and general

academic activity (Nye et al., 2006). Parents can be helpful in the home-supported

learning environment with older students by setting routines and encouraging good

habits (Evidence for Learning, 2019b).

 Parents can encourage preschool children’s oral language development by

creating spaces for their talk and keeping conversations going; using intentional

pausing creates time for children to think and construct a response (Evidence for

Learning in collaboration with the University of Queensland, 2019a). Parents can create

space for children’s talk by using ‘I wonder’ questions such as ‘I wonder what happens

outside when it’s autumn?’ (Houen et al., 2019). These types of questions invite

children’s thoughts and ideas about a topic. Several strategies can be used to keep a

conversation going, such as:

 Having conversations about children’s personal experiences, lives and interests which

might involve using photographs as a prompt;

 Using active listening techniques such as making eye-contact, using short verbal clues,

facial expressions and gestures; and,

 Paraphrasing a child’s talk to model more complex language (e.g. If a child says, ‘Look

there’s a bird’, you might respond, ‘Oh yes, I can see the lorikeet in the tree. It reminds

me of a colourful rainbow). (Evidence for Learning in collaboration with the University

of Queensland, 2019b).

Parents can act to support their children by shared reading, oral language

activities and promoting self-regulation. However, the work of educators is not replaced

by parents in home-supported learning. Educators can encourage parents to support

children by helping them to be ready for learning and encouraging them to seek help

from teachers when stuck. Fostering independent learning is crucial. We can encourage
this by giving the least amount of help first to support children’s ownership of the task

(Bus, A. G., Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Pellegrini, A. D. (1995).

According to Melissa T. Mamat, parental involvement refers to the amount of

participation a parent has when it comes to the schooling of his/her children. Some

schools foster healthy parental involvement, but sometimes parents has hesitations if they

will involve themselves with their children’s education.

In addition, Lourdes Ocampo (2015) stated that parental involvement can have a

positive effect in student’s learning. Young learners whose parents read to them tend to

have better language acquisition, literacy development, later achievement in reading

comprehension, and higher over-all success in school programs that involved parents in

their children’s education also have been shown to improve student’s academic

performance.

According to Philippine Center of Public Education, parent involvement programs

provide a primary way for mothers and fathers to participate in educational process,

improve schools and engage with their children. The level of parental involvement varies

depending on the variety of factors, which can include family-structure or cultural and

linguistic differences between parents and teachers.

Orillosa and Magno (2013) noted that parents played an important role on their

child’s academic achievements. Once a child is inside the school, the parent’s role

deepened due to the various modes of assessment used by schools. Given this situation,

parents must provide more opportunities at home where children can further hone their

skills to increase their academic performance. This is especially true among parents who
are full time in taking care of their own child. They are much concerned about the kind of

assessment that their child will engage.

The concept of parental involvement also distinguished by Magno (2007) with

parenting styles. Different factors of parenting characteristics were clustered using

multidimensional scaling which distinguished parental involvement and parental style.

The factors of parental involvement include communication, support, bonding,

interaction, giving material rewards, monitoring, and affection. On the other hand, the

factors that congested for parenting styles include authoritarian, psychological control,

behavior control, autonomy, authoritative, and discipline. Given the set of factors under

parental involvement, the variable is further described as specific socializing activities in

which parents engage such as guiding the child in homework. Likewise, parenting styles

are further described as attitude towards the child that is manifested through

communication and creation of emotional climate.

Typically, teachers in schools are the primary player seen as the key agents

involved in the learning of children. A significant amount of research may suffice that

there are actually concrete good results that when parents get involved, it also benefits the

children’s learning (Orillosa, 2007). Parents’ role in making appropriate and high-quality

environment are important to be noted in order to assess learning in its totality.

Home - school partnership aims to help create a positive atmosphere for parents

and teachers to work together to improve the children’s success It refers to a wholesome

relationship where activities done at home and school solidly support children’s

performance and learning (Hanna Castillon, 2017). Thus, an effective partnership

between families and schools through authentic, respectful dialogue and collaboration is

indeed essential for the children’s good upbringing.

METHODOLOGY

This section deals with the theoretical and conceptual framework, research

method, population, and sampling, research local of the study, research instrument and

validity, data collection and data analysis.

Theoretical Framework

To understand the parental capacity and engagement for the home-based learning

of the young learners is highly important to maximize learning due to pandemic situation.

With the collaboration of family-school partnership, it help the students to overcome the

learning crisis we were already living and respond to the pandemic we are all facing.

Research demonstrated that effective schools have high levels of parental and

community involvement. This involvement is strong related to improved student learning,

attendance and behavior.

 This study is anchored to Social Constructivist Theory by Vygotsky that

providing the appropriate assistance will give the learners a "boost" to achieve the task,

thereby encouraging and advancing their individual learning. Social Constructivist

Theory provides unintentionally or intentionally, the engagement of parents in the home-

based learning of their children. This theory focuses on learners as “active constructors

rather than passive recipients of knowledge”. By having Social Constructivist Theory

serve as the foundation, the learning emphasizes the fact that individuals perceive and

process information in very different ways. This learning theory implies how much

individuals learn has more to do with whether the educational experience is geared

toward their particular performance academically.

Conceptual Framework

This framework is based on existing good practice and provides an agreed

national approach to guide schools and families working on these issues. It recognizes

that many positive development and innovations are already occurring in schools and that

one size fits all approach to partnership is not feasible.

The family-school communication needs to be taken seriously and must valued,

recognized and rewarded by schools and education systems especially in this pandemic

situation.

With the concept that to maximize learning, it necessitates knowing and

understanding the perceptions of parents in engaging them to the home-supported

learning of their children, the researcher conducts the present study with the end of

knowing the preparation of parents in home-supported learning. The study also considers
that the presence of parents in the child’s learning will contribute to the academic

performance of their children better. Thus, the parent’s profile, perception, their

relationship with the school, their roles and preparedness can boost the home-supported

learning of their children at this time of pandemic (Figure 1).

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Socio-Demographic
Characteristics of the
Pupil
 Sex
 Age Roles of Parents
 Number of Children
 Highest educational
attainment
 Occupation
 Monthly income

Parents’ Perception about

Parents’ Preparedness
the home-based learning
 Figure 1. Conceptual Paradigm of the Study

Operational Definition of Terms

In order to guide the reader of this study, the following terms or words are

operationally defined.

Parental Capacity refers to the parent’s capability to assist the child’s learning at

home.

Home-Based Learning refers to methods of studying at home.

Parent engagement in schools defined as parents and school staff working

together to support and improve the learning, development and the health of children

and adolescents.
 Locale of the Study

The study will be conducted in the municipality of Lupao, Nueva Ecija. The said

municipality is located in the hilly eastern most part of Nueva Ecija and were distributed

around the well-known Caraballo Mountain. It is accessible and can be reached by any

kind of land vehicle like bus, mini bus, jeep or tricycle.

Specifically, this study will be done particularly in the six elementary non-central

schools: Agupalo ES; Parista ES; Cordero ES; Alalay Grande ES; San Pedro ES, Arimal

ES; and Burgos ES. These schools comprise the 20 percent of the 21 elementary schools

and they were obtained through a draw lot.

Research Method

The descriptive method of research will be used to determine the parental capacity

and engagement for the home-supported learning in Lupao District. The method is

appropriate since the intention is to find out the readiness of the parents engaging for the

home-supported learning of their children. It also describes and assesses the characteristic

of the whole sample. Bailey (1989) defined descriptive research as concerned with
conditions or relationships that exist, practices that are held, processes that exert no

efforts that are felt and trends that are developing.

Population and Sampling

The respondents of this study will be the parents of the two elementary in the

District of Lupao. Samples were selected from six public elementary schools. These

parent-respondents will be purposively selected among the parents from the selected

schools, then they will be randomly selected using the Slovin’s formula from the parents

of learners enrolled in the two elementary schools last school year 2019-2020 (Table 1).

Table 1. Respondents of the Study

Name of School Population Sample

Agupalo Este ES 123 20

Parista ES 546 92

Cordero ES 120 20

Alalay Grande ES 184 31

San Pedro ES 166 28

Arimal ES 136 23

Burgos ES 244 41

Total 1519 255

Research Instrument
 The main instrument that will be used in this study is a questionnaire (Appendix

A). It was developed by the researcher with the approval of the advisory committee. The

questionnaire is composed of the following parts:

Part I – Parent’s Profile

Part II – Perception on Home-Based Learning

Part III – Roles of Parents

Part IV – Preparedness of Parents in engaging the home-supported learning

The study will explore the factors that may influence parents’ perception

regarding the home-supported learning of their children instead of going back to school

because of the pandemic situation.

Pre-Testing of the Instrument

The instrument will be pretested among parents of schools not included in the

study. Permission from the Federated Parents-Teachers Association (FPTA) of Lupao

District will be secured (Appendix B). Also, the researcher will seek the assistance from

the FPTA officers in the distribution and retrieval of questionnaires. The researcher will

submit the answered questionnaires to the statistician to determine its reliability using

Chronbach’s Alpha.

Data Gathering Procedure

The questionnaire as the main instrument in the collection of data will be utilized.

Though, informal observations and interview will also be done to generate additional
information in support of other data that could get additional data for better results of this

study.

. The questionnaire will be reproduce earlier and copies will administered to the

parent-respondents. The parents will be given enough time to answer the questionnaires.

Then the questionnaires will be retrieved by the researcher.

Methods of Data Analysis

The data from the questionnaire will be encoded, tabulated and analyzed.

For basis of interpretation in the portion of the questionnaire which required

scaled responses of “strongly agree”, “agree”, “disagree”, and “strongly disagree” the

researcher used the Likert Scaling Technique by Best (1989)

In determining the verbal description or in order to describe each item in the

questionnaire the following conversion table will be used:

Points Weight Descriptive Rating Descriptive Rating

5 4.21-5.00 Always Strongly Agree
4 3.41-4.20 Often Agree
3 2.81-3.40 Occasional Undecided/Neutral
2 1.81-2.80 Seldom Disagree
1 1.00-1.80 Never Strongly Disagree
Appendix A. Questionnaire

PARENTAL CAPACITY AND ENCOURAGEMENT FOR HOME-SUPPORTED LEARNING

Part I. PARENT’S PROFILE

Direction: Please answer the following items by putting your personal data

on the blanks corresponding to the items. Rest assured that any information given

will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

Name: ______________________________________________________

Name of School: ______________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________

1.Sex: ____Male ____ Female

2. Age: _______ 3. Number of Children: _______________

4. Highest Educational Attainment: _____________________________

5. Occupation: ______________________________________________

PART II. PARENTS PERCEPTION ABOUT HOME-SUPPORTED LEARNING

Direction: Score each statement in the columns below by giving yourself the appropriate
number base on your perceptions on the home-supported learning: 5- Strongly Agree, 4-
Agree, 3-Undecided, 2- Disagree, 1- Strongly Disagree
 PARENTS’
No. 5 4 3 2 1
PERCEPTION
Home-supported
learning benefits a child
by providing a
1
comfortable, quiet and
safe learning
environment
I believe that home-
supported learning is
more safer than going to
2
school during the
pandemic crisis

My child feels safe and

3 happy to learn at home

I am capable to support
4 my child’s learning at
home
I am capable of dealing
with my child’s
5 emotions appropriately
during home-supported
learning
I am satisfied engaging
for the home-supported
6
learning of my children

My children will be able

to learn and retain
information with no
7
distractions or
interruptions when they
are studying at home
I am willing to teach my
8
children at home
My child and I will have
a better relationships
9
through home-supported
learning
I could help my child
more if the teacher
10 gave me learning
materials to support
their home-learning
 I could strengthen
11 family bond among my
children
I can educate my
children in a safe
environment away from
12
the pressures, and
increasing possibility of
the virus exposure
I feel that my child can
focus entirely on
13 academic work when
they are doing it at
home
I can help the progress
of my child’s learning at
14
home

I can inculcate good

discipline, behavior and
15 a quality education in
my child

PART III. FAMILY-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP

Direction: Score each statement in the columns below by giving yourself the appropriate
number base on your perceptions on the home-supported learning: 5- Always, 4-Often, 3-
Occasional, 2- Seldom, 1- Never

No. Statement 5 4 3 2 1

FAMILY-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP
The district has a strong
policy that sets standards for
what partnerships in schools
1
should include and lays out a
process for making sure that
schools meet the standards.
 Parent involvement is
clearly defined and means
2 more than parents’ being
their children’s “first
teachers.”
The policy commits the
district to offer certain
3 programs and opportunities
for families, staff, and
community members.
Schools with high levels of
parent, family, and
4
community involvement are
recognized and rewarded
All schools are required to
appoint an action team of
staff and parents who
5
represent the school’s
diversity to build and sustain
parent involvement.
An annual survey assesses
families’ opinions of the
6 school and what supports
they need to become more
involved.
. The school keeps all
7 families informed about
important issues and events.
The school makes it easy for
8 families to communicate
with teachers.
The school keeps me
informed of my rights under
federal and state laws and
9
policies and helps me
exercise those rights as
needed.
The school connects
students, families, and staff
to expanded learning
10
opportunities, community
services, and community
improvement initiatives.
11 The school provides
opportunities for families to
develop relationships and
 raise concerns with school
leaders, public officials, and
business and community
leaders.
. The school consults with
me and other families before
making important decisions
12
(e.g., changes in curriculum,
school policies, dress code,
pandemic crisis).
Support or assistance
provided by the school staff
13
has been helpful to me or my
child.
Information shared with me
in meetings I had with either
the principal, assistant
principal, counselor, nurse,
14 or social worker, helped me
better understand a problem
my child was having and
how I could support my
child to be more successful
The school makes personal
contact with all new families
15
before the school year
begins.
Teachers and parents work
with community organizers
to research solutions to
16
problems that families and
students face, such as the
pandemic crisis.
The annual survey data are
correlated with student
outcome data (including test
17
scores) to develop programs
for families that are linked to
student learning.
. Professional development
and technical assistance on
all aspects of family and
18
community engagement are
available for administrators,
teachers, and parents.
19 The district has a well-
 developed and easy-to-use
website so that schools and
families can contact staff,
obtain important
information, and download
useful materials.
The school communicates
with families in multiple
20
ways (e.g., e-mail, phone,
website).

PART IV. ROLES OF PARENTS IN ENGAGING FOR THE HOME-

SUPPORTED LEARNING

Direction: Score each statement in the columns below by giving yourself the appropriate
number base on your perceptions on the home-supported learning: 5- Strongly Agree, 4-
Agree, 3-Neutral, 2- Disagree, 1- Strongly Disagree

No. Statement 5 4 3 2 1

Parents’ Relationship With Their Children

Spending time with my

1
child
We have meals together
with our children all the
2
time

We go for outing with our

3
children every week
4 I am aware of my child’s
academic and
extracurricular
achievements
 I respect my child’s privacy
5

I support my child’s
6
decision-making
We bond like a
7
sister/brother all the time
I asked about his/her
8
problems
I listened to my child’s
9
desire and wants
I support and help my child
10
whenever he/she needs me

Parents’ Role in Engaging for the Home-Supported Learning

I become partners with
teachers in encouraging
11
children with their
schoolwork
I will act as an academic
12 teacher, teaching children a
range of different topics
I also serve as guidance
13
counselor
I interact with my child/ren
regularly about school goals
14 and programs

I support my child/ren to
create regular routines and
15 study habits in engaging for
the home-supported
learning

PART V. PARENTS’ PREPAREDNESS IN ENGAGING FOR THE HOME-

SUPPORTED LEARNING
Direction: Score each statement in the columns below by giving yourself the appropriate
number base on your perceptions on the home-supported learning: 5- Strongly Agree, 4-
Agree, 3-Neutral, 2- Disagree, 1- Strongly Disagree

No. Statement 5 4 3 2 1

Materials and Technology for Teaching And Learning Available At Home

I have devices that supports
the home-schooling of my
1
children (computer desktop,
laptop, tablet, smart phone)
I have the internet access
2 that supports to my
children’s learning at home
I can act to support my
children by shared reading
3 books/materials, oral
language activities and
promoting self-regulation
I can provide other printed
4 learning materials for my
children
Learner Support System
Learners have parents that
5 guides and supports them
while studying at home
Parents/guardians help
children develop
6 independent learning skills
and manage their own
learning at home
Educators can provide
practical strategies for
7
parents to support learning
at home 
Family-School Partnership
ensures the continuity of
8
learning while learners are at
home
END OF QUESTIONNAIRE

THANK YOU!