Involving parents in a child’s school environment in different ways at a broad range of involvement levels is empirically proved to be an important factor in a child’s academic performance. Mutual equivalent searching and joint decision-making in a child’s educational process is possible only within a partnership model where parents and school professionals follow the basis of mutual respect and openness and exchange of responsibilities. Due to neurologically conditioned learning difficulties, pupils with deficits in individual learning areas need even more external help and concrete support for overcoming learning deficits and discovering their strong areas as a compensation source for easier achievement of success in education. Therefore, active participation of parents is of key importance both in the process of identifying a child’s learning difficulties and in designing of an individualized program and further consideration. The studies have shown that in order to achieve an active cooperation of school professionals with parents, the latter require a wide range of information and support, which provides them with empowerment and development of a support system.
The purpose of this master’s thesis was to determine to what extent the school professionals contribute to the empowerment of the parents of children with deficits in individual learning areas both with forwarding information and offering help in order to involve them as much as possible in the children’s school environment, and also to determine to what extent and in what way the parents of children with deficits in individual learning areas experience their involvement in the educational process. The data were obtained with a survey technique, using a survey questionnaire which was designed for the purpose of the master’s thesis and given to the parents of children with deficits in individual learning areas. A descriptive and causal non-experimental method and a quantitative research approach was used in the research. The sampling was non-random and targeted. 110 parents of children with deficits in individual learning areas from different primary schools in Slovenia were included in the sample.
Research results have shown that schools give parents only partial information about the characteristics of children’s deficits in individual learning areas, about the laws and legal procedures in connection with the deficits, about the individualized program and the means of helping the children with schoolwork; however, a statistically significant increase of the latter information occurs when the child is not yet in a program with adapted implementation and additional professional assistance. The parents emphasize that they would like to receive even more information from the school professionals, especially about the ways in which they could efficiently help their child to study and do schoolwork at home. It has also been shown that the fathers believe they receive a higher amount of information compared to the mothers; the difference is statistically significant. Moreover, the parents of children with deficits in individual learning areas report that they receive a certain amount of support, understanding and acceptance, but most parents wish they received more. The results show there is a medium-strong negative connection, which is statistically significant, between the amount of the support received in school and the frequency of searching for support elsewhere. Most parents point out that there is not enough support offered in school which is why they often seek it outside the school environment. At the same time, we infer from the analysis of the answers that the mothers receive a greater amount of support, understanding and acceptance in schools in comparison to the fathers; the difference is statistically significant. Moreover, we infer that the parents with a doctor’s degree are less aware of the received support than the other parents with lower levels of education. It has also been assessed that the parents of children with deficits in individual learning areas are involved into the school environment occasionally, most frequently through organized lectures and workshops, with the majority of parents wishing there was more involvement in the form of meetings and consideration of their opinion.
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