Parental involvement in music education in private primary schools

Abstract

The title of my study is: Parental Involvement in music education in Private Primary Schools. In this study involvement refers to parents’ participation or attitudes in the learning of music education in primary schools. The importance of Parental Involvement in education has been a major concern in the global village. In an effort to address Parental Involvement in education, President Bush of the USA’s administration coined the ‘No Child left behind Act of 2001, 2002’ which was reiterated by President Obama of USA who declared that “…there is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent-teacher conferences or help with homework or turn off the TV, put away the video games or read to their children. Responsibility for our children’s education must begin at home” (Obama, 2009). This Act of ‘No Child left behind’ has promoted me to undertake this dissertation on Parental Involvement in Education. This study is introduced to the readers based on my experiences as a music teacher in a private primary school. The study will be carried out in the North East District, Francistown, Botswana. Families in Botswana are of mixed economic, social and cultural backgrounds that are largely infiltrated by expatriates working in the mines and other governmental sectors of Botswana. As a music teacher at a Private Primary School, I have observed an imbalance in Parental Involvement in music education. There are parents who take active and some who take inactive roles in learners’ music education, hence the sliding scale in Parental Involvement in education. There seem to only be a few parents who are actively involved in their children’s learning of music education. The notion exists that families from the lower status core, seem to leave all the school work to the classroom teachers. Hence Parental Involvement in music education in Private Primary Schools became my area of study.