Parents involving in children's education and their collaboration with schools is of great importance, particularly for children, as it enhances their academic performance. It also has a positive effect on childs’ attitude towards school and future education. In my master’s thesis, I aimed to examine the characteristics of parental collaboration with primary schools in Slovenia and how this relates to parents’ educational background, the child’s gender, and age. I also sought to identify the factors that most motivate and hinder parents in engaging with schools. The empirical part of the thesis involved 331 participants, parents of children from 6th to 9th grade in Slovenian primary schools. I examined the construct validity of six factors related to parental involvement and modes of collaboration with schools. I found that all six factors constitute independent scales: parents’ role activity beliefs, parents’ valence towards school, parents’ perceptions of general invitations for involvement from the school, parents’ knowledge and skills, parents’ involvement in home-based and school-based activities. These factors were also predictors of children’s average academic grades and self-efficacy in schoolwork, perceived by parents. I found that more educated parents are more involved in their children's education at school compared to less educated parents, while less educated parents are more involved in their children's education at home compared to more educated parents. I confirmed the hypothesis that parents of younger children are more involved in their education compared to parents of older children. However, I rejected the hypothesis that parents of girls are more involved, it turned out that parents of boys are more engaged. The primary motivational factor for parents to cooperate with schools is concern for their child, and the greatest obstacles to parental involvement are negative attitudes of school staff and a lack of time.
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