A Study on Pre-service Preschool Teacher's Beliefs in their Difficulties and Implementations of Parental Involvement

While parental influences on children’s healthy growth are undeniable, the study of parental involvement (PI) in recent years has become a main concern in the preschool settings. Previous studies have shown gaps between... [ view full abstract ]

While parental influences on children’s healthy growth are undeniable, the study of parental involvement (PI) in recent years has become a main concern in the preschool settings. Previous studies have shown gaps between beliefs and perceived practices of teachers, and misconceptions were assumed. Thus, the current research aims to find out the relationship between the personal characteristics; teaching experiences and their willingness in holding parental involved activities (PIAs). This study examined on their beliefs and perceived practices of parental involvement of pre-service preschool teachers. Meanwhile, a mixed method of data collection was employed, first, there were 72 sets of questionnaire collected with different personal demographics information and characteristics (seniority, colleges, experience and personality) and their beliefs (importance, difficulty and benefits of PIAs). Results indicated that the degree of enjoyment in holding PIAs was positively related to the degree of willingness for pre-service teachers in holding PIAs. Moreover, the level of seniority and the amount of experiences of pre-service teachers are positively related to the level of willingness in holding PIAs. Furthermore, there were four teachers participated in the semi-structured interview and showed that positive personalities including openness to new ideas and enthusiasm are positively related to their willingness in holding PIAs. Although, the current study has its limitations both in sampling method and lack of a vigorous statistical analysis of data, these findings suggest that opportunities of experiencing PIAs, along with the growth of seniority, promotes the willingness in holding PIAs.

       Keywords: Parental involvement, Implementations of parental involved activities, Pre-service teachers' beliefs, Pre-service teachers' characteristics