Personal characteristics that predict South Africans' participation in activities of their children's schools

dc.creator	Ronnie Mmotlane
dc.creator	Lolita Winnaar
dc.creator	Mbithi wa Kivilu
dc.date	2009-11-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:06:00Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:06:00Z
dc.identifier	0256-0100
dc.identifier	2076-3433
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/fb2703e8e2be4927a31206da1a99cd78
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/10199
dc.identifier.uri	https://doaj.org/article/fb2703e8e2be4927a31206da1a99cd78
dc.description	We investigated the extent to which personal characteristics such as age, marital status, education level, living standard measure (LSM), environmental milieu, race, gender and employment status predict parents' participation in the activities of their children's schools. The data used for analysis were drawn from 5,734 South Africans aged 16+ years who participated in the Human Sciences Research Council's (HSRC) annual South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). Respondents (n = 1,364) who had at least one child in school were selected for the analysis. The logistic regression model was used to estimate the extent to which personal characteristics would predict parents' level of participation. Results showed that personal characteristics such as age, marital status, gender, and living standard measure (LSM) had a significant influence on parental participation. Amongst these, gender was the most significant factor. Respondents aged 35-49 years were 1.5 times more likely than those aged 50+ years to participate in their children's school activities. Respondents who were married were more likely than those who had never married to participate. Mothers were more likely than fathers to participate in their children's school activities. The literature suggests that American fathers show some interest in participating in activities of their children's schools, at least in the first few years, but discontinue that participation in time. The results confirm a common belief in some communities in South Africa that fathers do not take seriously their responsibility to provide for their children and their partners in that regard from the onset. Even though the results on personal characteristics support existing theory and empirical literature on parental participation, a multidimensional perspective is needed that would incorporate other factors into the study.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Education Association of South Africa (EASA)
dc.relation	http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002009000400007
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/0256-0100
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3433
dc.source	South African Journal of Education, Vol 29, Iss 4, Pp 527-540 (2009)
dc.subject	multidimensional perspective
dc.subject	parental participation
dc.subject	parents
dc.subject	personal characteristics
dc.subject	psychological characteristics
dc.subject	school activities
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Personal characteristics that predict South Africans' participation in activities of their children's schools
dc.type	Article