Exploring Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education in Philippines: A Case Study

Abstract

Despite the attempt to increase parental involvement (PI) in school, there is a gap in understanding it from stakeholders' perspectives. This descriptive case study explored PI in early childhood education in Philippines from kindergarten stakeholders' perspectives. This study employed two phases: phase 1 focused on document analysis and phase 2 on the interview of stakeholders, in which purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 65 participants. Data from the two phases went through content and thematic analysis. The findings revealed four themes: 1) meaningful home-school interaction; 2) collective in-school engagement; 3) structured at-home learning support; and 4) refining stakeholders' capacity. These findings underscore the significance of strong PI and the need for crafting policies that will set guidelines for smooth implementation of programs and increase stakeholders' school engagement. This study requires further investigation in understanding PI focusing on the viewpoints of various stakeholders within the different regions of the country to validate its findings.