THE INVOLVEMENT OF PARENTS IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF BAHIR DAR CITY ADMINISTRATION: INTEGRATING MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

This study explored parents’ involvement (PI) in the education of their children with disabilities (CwDs), and the effect of parents’ socioeconomic status (SES) on their involvement. In addition, the study sought to identify the factors to PI and strategies to help parents increase their involvement. The study was guided by Epstein’s PI framework. Convergent parallel mixed methods design was employed to undertake the study. Quantitative data was collected using a questionnaire designed to measure six dimensions of PI, barriers to PI, and strategies to increase PI from 143 parents (n=143). Using purposive sampling technique, 5 parents of CwDs, 5 teachers and 3 principals were selected for interviews. While descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data, a thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The quantitative results revealed that among the six dimensions of PI (parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and collaborating with the community) 'parenting' is more prevalent than others. Further ranking of the means of the dimensions proved that parental participation in ‘parenting’ was the top-ranked one, while the ‘decision-making’ and ‘volunteering’ were the lower ranked dimensions. The qualitative findings also showed that parents demonstrated the highest level of concern for parenting, yet had a low level of involvement in ‘volunteering’, ‘decision-making’, and ‘collaborating with the community’. Overall, the study found parents appeared to have minimal involvement in their child’s education.The analysis found that the level of PI was found to differ significantly by parents’ employment and income status. However, ‘educational level’ yielded non-significant results on the level of PI. The findings also demonstrated that PI was hindered by barriers related to parents (parents’ less level of education, low level of income, negative attitude, etc.); schools (school communities negative attitude, and welcoming school environment, etc.), and children (e.g. unwillingness to submit invitations). Finally, the study identified strategies to help parents increase their involvement. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations for actions and research are provided.