Parental Involvement Growth in Early Childhood Education: A Comparative Study in the Free State Province of South Africa
Keywords:
Level of Growth; Parental Involvement; Education; Mobile Centres; Early Childhood Development
Abstract
This study examined parental involvement in early childhood education at mobile ECD centres in the Free State province, South Africa, focusing on centres managed by Tshepang Educare Trust, Ntataise, and Lesedi Educare Association. A quantitative research approach with a descriptive survey design was used to gather data from 172 practitioners, selected through proportionate stratified random sampling. The sample included 11 practitioners from Lesedi Educare Association, 8 from Tshepang Educare Trust, and 153 from Ntataise. Data were collected using a 20-item structured questionnaire, validated by experts, with a reliability index of 0.79. Analysis was conducted using SPSS version 25, applying mean, standard deviation, t-tests, and one-way ANOVA. Findings revealed that parental involvement was highest at Ntataise, followed by Tshepang Educare Trust and Lesedi Educare Association, with an overall high level of involvement (cluster mean of 3.29). The most significant form of parental engagement was ensuring proper invitations for meetings. Meanwhile, the lowest score was for maintaining a sense of ownership by parents of the school. These results underscore the importance of support structures in fostering parental involvement.
References
Ates, A. (2021). The relationship between parental involvement in education and academic achievement: A meta-analysis study. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 11(3), 50-66.
Benner, A.D., Boyle, A.E., & Sadler, S. (2016).Parental involvement and adolescents’ educational success: The roles of prior achievement and socioeconomic status. Journal of youth and adolescence, 45 (6), 1053-1064.
Britto, P. R., Lye, S. J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A. K., Matthews, S. G., Vaivada, T., Perez-Escamilla, R., Rao, N., Ip, P., Fernald, L. C. H., MacMillan, H., Hanson, M., Wachs, T. D., Yao, H., Yoshikawa, H., Cerezo, A., Leckman, J. F., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2017). Nurturing care: promoting early childhood development. The Lancet, 389(10064), 91–102.
Carson, V., Lee, E. Y., Hewitt, L., Jennings, C., Hunter, S., Kuzik, N., ... & Tremblay, M. S. (2017). Systematic review of the relationships between physical activity and health indicators in the early years (0-4 years). BMC public health, 17, 33-63.
Cavanaugh, D. M., Clemence, K. J., Teale, M. M., Rule, A. C., & Montgomery, S. E. (2017). Kindergarten scores, storytelling, executive function, and motivation improved through literacy-rich guided play. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45, 831-843.
Choi, N., Chang, M., Kim, S., & Reio Jr, T. G. (2015). A structural model of parent involvement with demographic and academic variables. Psychology in the Schools, 52 (2), 154-167.
Dotterer, A., & Wehrspann, E. (2016) Parent involvement and academic outcomes among urban adolescents: examining the role of school engagement. Educational Psychology, 36 (4), 812-830.
Drigas, A., Kokkalia, G. & Lytras, M.D. (2015). Mobile and multimedia learning in preschool education. Journal of Mobile Multimedia, 1(1&2), 119-133.
Dumont, H., Trautwein, U., Nagy, G., & Nagengast, B. (2014). Quality of parental homework involvement: predictors and reciprocal relations with academic functioning in the reading domain. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106 (1), 144-161.
El Nokali, N. E., Bachman, H.J., & Votrubaâ€Drzal, E. (2010).Parent involvement and children’s academic and social development in elementary school. Child Development, 81 (3), 988-1005.
Epstein, J. L., & Sheldon, S. B. (2019). Evaluate programs of partnership: Critical considerations. J. L. Epstein (Eds) School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (pp. 323-359). Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin.
Ernst, J., & Burcak, F. (2019). Young children’s contributions to sustainability: The influence of nature play on curiosity, executive function skills, creative thinking, and resilience. Sustainability, 11(15), 4212.
Gonida, E. N., & Cortina, K. S. (2014). Parental involvement in homework: Relations with parent and student achievement†related motivational beliefs and achievement. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 84 (3), 376-396.
Gubbins, V., & Otero, G. (2016). Effect of the parental involvement style perceived by elementary school students at home on Language and Mathematics performance in Chileannschools. Educational Studies, 42 (2), 121-136.
Hong, Y. J. (2023). Young children’s engagement in smart device use and associations with maternal factors in supporting their playfulness. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(8), 2281-2293.
Jefferson, A. D. (2023). Perceived Effect of Preschoolers’ Excessive Mobile Technology Use and Limited Engagement in Traditional Play on Social Development: A Qualitative Generic Study (Doctoral dissertation) North Central University.
Karki, S., Aryal, P. N., Acharya, S., Dahal, M., Upadhyay, J., Ghimire, D., & Singh, K. (2018). Evaluation of the national early childhood development program. Kathmandu, Nepal: Oxford Policy Management Limited.
LaRocque, M., Kleiman, I. & Darling, S. M. (2011). Parental involvement: The missing l ink in school achievement. Preventing School Failure, 55 (3), 115-122.
Lawrence, A., & Choe, D. E. (2021). Mobile media and young children's cognitive skills: a review. Academic pediatrics, 21(6), 996-1000.
Manhibi, R. (2019). Information and communication technologies integration into early childhood development education in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe: a critical analysis (Doctoral dissertation). University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Ndlovu, B., Okeke, C., Nhase, Z., Ugwuanyi, C., Okeke, C., & Ede, M. (2023). Impact of play-based learning on the development of children in mobile early childhood care and education centres: Practitioners’ perspectives. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 12(3), 432-440.
Neuman, M. J., & Powers, S. (2021). Political Prioritization of Early Childhood Education in Low-and Middle-Income Countries. February. http://www.worldbank.org/prwp.
Nworgu, B. G. (2015). Educational Research, Basic Issues and Methodology (3rd ed.). Enugu: University Trust Publishers, Nsukka.
Ogegbo, A. A., & Aina, A. (2020). Early childhood development teachers' perceptions on the use of technology in teaching young children. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 10(1), 1-10.
Perkins, D. F., Syvertsen, A. K., Mincemoyer, C., Chilenski, S. M., Olson, J. R., Berrena, E., ... & Spoth, R. (2016). Thriving in school: The role of sixth-grade adolescent-parent-school relationships in predicting eighth-grade academic outcomes. Youth & society, 48 (6), 739-762.
Smit, N. A., van der Linde, J., Eccles, R., Swanepoel, D. W., & Graham, M. A. (2021). Exploring the Knowledge and Needs of Early Childhood Development Practitioners from a Low-Resource Community. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49(2), 197–208.
Tavernier, M., & Hu, X. (2020). Emerging Mobile Learning Pedagogy Practices: Using tablets and constructive apps in early childhood education. Educational Media International, 57(3), 253-270.
Tran, A. W. (2018). Young Children's Use of Mobile Technology: Impacts on Self-Regulation and Aggression (Doctoral dissertation). University of Windsor Canada.
Ugwuanyi, C., & Okeke, C. (2023). practitioners’ perspectives on the challenges encountered in maintaining mobile early childhood care and education centres. In EDULEARN23 Proceedings (pp. 142-146). IATED.
Vargas-Baron, E., Small, J., Wertlieb, D., Hix-Small, H., Gómez Botero, R., Diehl, K., ... & Lynch, P. (2019). Global survey of inclusive early childhood development and early childhood intervention programs. RISE Institute.
Wood, E., Petkovski, M., De Pasquale, D., Gottardo, A., Evans, M. A., & Savage, R. S. (2016). Parent scaffolding of young children when engaged with mobile technology. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 690.
You, S., Lim, S. A., No, U., & Dang, M. (2016). Multidimensional aspects of parental involvement in Korean adolescents’ schooling: a mediating role of general and domain-specific self-efficacy. Educational Psychology, 36 (5), 916-934.
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Webb, H. J., Pepping, C. A., Swan, K., Merlo, O., Skinner, E. A., ... & Dunbar, M. (2017). Is parent–child attachment a correlate of children’s emotion regulation and coping?. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(1), 74-93.
Benner, A.D., Boyle, A.E., & Sadler, S. (2016).Parental involvement and adolescents’ educational success: The roles of prior achievement and socioeconomic status. Journal of youth and adolescence, 45 (6), 1053-1064.
Britto, P. R., Lye, S. J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A. K., Matthews, S. G., Vaivada, T., Perez-Escamilla, R., Rao, N., Ip, P., Fernald, L. C. H., MacMillan, H., Hanson, M., Wachs, T. D., Yao, H., Yoshikawa, H., Cerezo, A., Leckman, J. F., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2017). Nurturing care: promoting early childhood development. The Lancet, 389(10064), 91–102.
Carson, V., Lee, E. Y., Hewitt, L., Jennings, C., Hunter, S., Kuzik, N., ... & Tremblay, M. S. (2017). Systematic review of the relationships between physical activity and health indicators in the early years (0-4 years). BMC public health, 17, 33-63.
Cavanaugh, D. M., Clemence, K. J., Teale, M. M., Rule, A. C., & Montgomery, S. E. (2017). Kindergarten scores, storytelling, executive function, and motivation improved through literacy-rich guided play. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45, 831-843.
Choi, N., Chang, M., Kim, S., & Reio Jr, T. G. (2015). A structural model of parent involvement with demographic and academic variables. Psychology in the Schools, 52 (2), 154-167.
Dotterer, A., & Wehrspann, E. (2016) Parent involvement and academic outcomes among urban adolescents: examining the role of school engagement. Educational Psychology, 36 (4), 812-830.
Drigas, A., Kokkalia, G. & Lytras, M.D. (2015). Mobile and multimedia learning in preschool education. Journal of Mobile Multimedia, 1(1&2), 119-133.
Dumont, H., Trautwein, U., Nagy, G., & Nagengast, B. (2014). Quality of parental homework involvement: predictors and reciprocal relations with academic functioning in the reading domain. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106 (1), 144-161.
El Nokali, N. E., Bachman, H.J., & Votrubaâ€Drzal, E. (2010).Parent involvement and children’s academic and social development in elementary school. Child Development, 81 (3), 988-1005.
Epstein, J. L., & Sheldon, S. B. (2019). Evaluate programs of partnership: Critical considerations. J. L. Epstein (Eds) School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (pp. 323-359). Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin.
Ernst, J., & Burcak, F. (2019). Young children’s contributions to sustainability: The influence of nature play on curiosity, executive function skills, creative thinking, and resilience. Sustainability, 11(15), 4212.
Gonida, E. N., & Cortina, K. S. (2014). Parental involvement in homework: Relations with parent and student achievement†related motivational beliefs and achievement. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 84 (3), 376-396.
Gubbins, V., & Otero, G. (2016). Effect of the parental involvement style perceived by elementary school students at home on Language and Mathematics performance in Chileannschools. Educational Studies, 42 (2), 121-136.
Hong, Y. J. (2023). Young children’s engagement in smart device use and associations with maternal factors in supporting their playfulness. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(8), 2281-2293.
Jefferson, A. D. (2023). Perceived Effect of Preschoolers’ Excessive Mobile Technology Use and Limited Engagement in Traditional Play on Social Development: A Qualitative Generic Study (Doctoral dissertation) North Central University.
Karki, S., Aryal, P. N., Acharya, S., Dahal, M., Upadhyay, J., Ghimire, D., & Singh, K. (2018). Evaluation of the national early childhood development program. Kathmandu, Nepal: Oxford Policy Management Limited.
LaRocque, M., Kleiman, I. & Darling, S. M. (2011). Parental involvement: The missing l ink in school achievement. Preventing School Failure, 55 (3), 115-122.
Lawrence, A., & Choe, D. E. (2021). Mobile media and young children's cognitive skills: a review. Academic pediatrics, 21(6), 996-1000.
Manhibi, R. (2019). Information and communication technologies integration into early childhood development education in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe: a critical analysis (Doctoral dissertation). University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Ndlovu, B., Okeke, C., Nhase, Z., Ugwuanyi, C., Okeke, C., & Ede, M. (2023). Impact of play-based learning on the development of children in mobile early childhood care and education centres: Practitioners’ perspectives. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 12(3), 432-440.
Neuman, M. J., & Powers, S. (2021). Political Prioritization of Early Childhood Education in Low-and Middle-Income Countries. February. http://www.worldbank.org/prwp.
Nworgu, B. G. (2015). Educational Research, Basic Issues and Methodology (3rd ed.). Enugu: University Trust Publishers, Nsukka.
Ogegbo, A. A., & Aina, A. (2020). Early childhood development teachers' perceptions on the use of technology in teaching young children. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 10(1), 1-10.
Perkins, D. F., Syvertsen, A. K., Mincemoyer, C., Chilenski, S. M., Olson, J. R., Berrena, E., ... & Spoth, R. (2016). Thriving in school: The role of sixth-grade adolescent-parent-school relationships in predicting eighth-grade academic outcomes. Youth & society, 48 (6), 739-762.
Smit, N. A., van der Linde, J., Eccles, R., Swanepoel, D. W., & Graham, M. A. (2021). Exploring the Knowledge and Needs of Early Childhood Development Practitioners from a Low-Resource Community. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49(2), 197–208.
Tavernier, M., & Hu, X. (2020). Emerging Mobile Learning Pedagogy Practices: Using tablets and constructive apps in early childhood education. Educational Media International, 57(3), 253-270.
Tran, A. W. (2018). Young Children's Use of Mobile Technology: Impacts on Self-Regulation and Aggression (Doctoral dissertation). University of Windsor Canada.
Ugwuanyi, C., & Okeke, C. (2023). practitioners’ perspectives on the challenges encountered in maintaining mobile early childhood care and education centres. In EDULEARN23 Proceedings (pp. 142-146). IATED.
Vargas-Baron, E., Small, J., Wertlieb, D., Hix-Small, H., Gómez Botero, R., Diehl, K., ... & Lynch, P. (2019). Global survey of inclusive early childhood development and early childhood intervention programs. RISE Institute.
Wood, E., Petkovski, M., De Pasquale, D., Gottardo, A., Evans, M. A., & Savage, R. S. (2016). Parent scaffolding of young children when engaged with mobile technology. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 690.
You, S., Lim, S. A., No, U., & Dang, M. (2016). Multidimensional aspects of parental involvement in Korean adolescents’ schooling: a mediating role of general and domain-specific self-efficacy. Educational Psychology, 36 (5), 916-934.
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Webb, H. J., Pepping, C. A., Swan, K., Merlo, O., Skinner, E. A., ... & Dunbar, M. (2017). Is parent–child attachment a correlate of children’s emotion regulation and coping?. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(1), 74-93.
Published
2025-06-26
Section
Articles
Copyright (c) 2025 Chinedu Ifedi Okeke, Thomas Ogbeche Akobi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work
