Factors Favouring the Educational Involvement of Immigrant Families With Children in Primary...

7/29/2019 Factors Favouring the Educational Involvement of Immigrant Families With Children in Primary Education

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Factors Favouring the Educational Involvement

of Immigrant Families with Childrenin Primary Education

Feli Etxeberria, Nahia Intxausti, and Luis JoaristiUniversidad del Pas Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

Abstract

The aim of this research was to describe factors that may influence immigrant families educationalinvolvement in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. The increase in immigration to

this autonomous community of Spain has meant the incorporation of pupils with different languagesand cultures into the current school. It is important to respond to such questions as: What is therelationship between the school and immigrant families?; What is the educational involvementlike in such families?; What are the influencing factors? The research with 302 families showsthat their perceptions and roles at school and in the home are different. The school is considered tobe an institution charged with ensuring academic success; the home to be the place for developingstrategies for motivating the learning and transmission of parental educational values. The personalisedrelationship between family and school seems to be an important factor in order to boost parentalinvolvement in the school.

Keywords: Educational intervention, education, immigration, school-family relationship, parentalinvolvement.

ResumenEl objetivo de esta investigacin fue describir los factores que pueden incidir en la implicacin educa-tiva de las familias inmigrantes en la Comunidad Autnoma del Pas Vasco. El aumento de la inmigra-cin en esta comunidad autnoma espaola supone la incorporacin de alumnos con lenguas y culturasdiferentes en la escuela actual. Es importante responder a cuestiones como: Qu relacin existe entrela escuela y las familias inmigrantes?; Cmo es la implicacin educativa familiar?; Qu factoresintervienen?. El estudio con 302 familias revela que su percepcin y roles educativos sobre la escuelay el hogar son diferentes. Consideran la escuela como institucin educativa con poder para asegurar elxito acadmico, y el hogar como el lugar de desarrollo de las estrategias de motivacin para el apren-dizaje y transmisin de valores educativos familiares. Se da a conocer como factor importante la rela-cin personalizada entre familia y escuela para impulsar la implicacin educativa familiar en la escuela.

Palabras clave: Intervencin educativa, educacin, inmigracin, relacin escuela y familia, impli-

cacin educativa familiar.

Correspondence: Feli Etxeberria, Department of Educational Research and Diagnostic Methods, theUniversity of the Basque Country, Avenida Tolosa, 70, 20018-Donostia. E-mail: [email protected]

Revista de Psicodidctica, 2013,18(1), 109-135 ISSN: 1136-1034 eISSN: 2254-4372

www.ehu.es/revista-psicodidactica UPV/EHU

DOI: 10.1387/RevPsicodidact.5684


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110 FELI ETXEBERRIA, NAHIA INTXAUSTI, AND LUIS JOARISTI

Revista de Psicodidctica, 2013,18(1), 109-135

Introduction

The Autonomous Communityof the Basque Country (CAPV-EAE) is bilingual, with two offi-cial languages: Basque, a minoritylanguage and Spanish, a majoritylanguage of the Autonomous Com-munity. The educational system in-corporates both tongues into an ed-ucational context of three different

language models (Model A, B, D).Model D, the one with major inclu-sion of Euskera, is chosen by 65.5%of students in Primary level (Eus-tat, 2011). In recent years there hasbeen a significant increase in thetransnational immigrant populationwithin the CAPV-EAE. In 1998 theimmigrant population was 0.72%while in 2011 it rose to 6.6% of theoverall population (National Statis-tics Institute (INE, 2011). This facthas implications for the educationalsector.

With the arrival of the new up-take the school has to establishchannels of communication with thenew families. The lack of knowl-edge of the family language andthe culture of the incoming pupilsmake communicative relationships

by the school with the family dif-ficult. There are other weak points,such as unfavourable social con-texts or family separations, giventhat certain family members mightfind themselves in their country oforigin.

In order to favour the incorpo-ration of the new pupils, as well

as promoting intercultural educa-

tion within the educational commu-nity, the Basque administration haslaunched an Intercultural and in-clusive programme for recently ar-rived pupils (Basque Government,2011a). The need to intervene withthe family is recognised, both in theprocesses of general acceptance, aswell as in school and social integra-tion. So, through the teacher respon-sible for interculturality, the idea isto promote greater contact with thenew families, incorporating theircultural heritage through events, ed-ucational curriculum and throughfomenting their participation in theschool. The Basque Governmenthas developed an information guidefor families on the education sys-tem of the host country in nine lan-guages (Spanish, Basque, French,English, Portuguese, Russian, Ru-manian, Chinese and Arabic). Theyalso have developed documenta-tion in Spanish, Basque, French,English, Portuguese, Russian, Ru-manian, Chinese, Arabic, Wolof,Polish and Ukrainian languages forfamilies in relation to school enrol-ment, services, tutorials and schoollife together (Basque Government,

2011b).It is important to know the edu-cational involvement of these par-ents with their children, both athome as well as in the school, withthe aim of providing contributionsto developing strategies for improv-ing the relationship between familyand school.


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FACTORS FAVOURING THE EDUCATIONAL INVOLVEMENT OF IMMIGRANT... 111


Parent involvement models

The study of parent-childrenrelationships has been a relevantaspect in the scientific literature.Much psychological research hasbeen undertaken on the styles ofparental socialisation and their re-lationships with the psychosocialadjustment of their children (Mar-tnez, Garca, Musitu, & Yubero,

2012). It should also be pointed outthe importance of the involvementof students in their own academicdevelopment and in the functioningof the school, as has been shown inresearch work of Ros, Goikoetxea,Gairn, and Lekue (2012). The edu-cational involvement of the familycould thus be important in the in-volvement of pupils themselves intheir educational career, includingin their schooling.

According to Jeynes (2005),parent involvement refers to paren-tal participation in the educationalprocesses and experiences of theirchildren. Sheldon (2003) pointsout that parent involvement repre-sents the investment of parents re-sources in their childs education.The models that have been drawn

up for parent involvement includegreat diversity and have been ana-lysed using different approaches.Some authors study parent involve-ment with an emphasis on psycho-logical variables, while others adopta more educational approach, con-sidering the school to be a factorof influence in parent involvement.Epsteins model (Epstein, 1986; Ep-

stein, 1990; Epstein et al., 2002)

is involved in this latter group. Inthe USA this work has been con-sidered relevant for research intopolicies for and practice involvingthis topic. The model is based onthe theory of overlapping spheres,where three spheres of influencesare defined (home, school and com-munity) and which influence thelearning of the pupil. The greaterthe interaction amongst the spheres,the greater is the probability that pu-pils receive common and coherentmessages on school topics. Greateralso is the probability for develop-ing family-like schools, school-likefamilies and supportive communi-ties towards families, schools andstudents. In the authors proposalfor intervention in the co-operationprogramme amongst schools, fam-ily and the community the develop-ment of six types of involvement bythe school is described, includinginitiatives involving parenting, com-municating, volunteering, learningat home, decision-making and col-laborating with the community.

Another model to highlight isthat of Grolnick and Slowiaczek(1994), revised by Grolnick, Benjet,

Kurowski and Apostoleris (1997),who focus on the multidimensionalnature of the concept of parentaleducational involvement. These au-thors define parental involvementas the allocation of resources by thefamily to the child within a givendomain (home, school, community)in order to accomplish his/her suc-cess in education. The involvement


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Figure 1. Model of Grolnick et al. (1997) that includes predictors of parental involvementin childrens schooling.

in childrens schooling includesthree types: school (participation ofthe families in public activities ofthe school), cognitive (parents stim-ulating their children to carry out

intellectual activities such as vis-iting museums etc.), and personal(parents interest for knowing andbeing informed about the childrensschool daily life).

These mentioned authors pointout that families adopt differentforms of activity at the different lev-els, depending on values held, timeavailable or access to resources.

They have proposed a multilevelmodel that included intra- and ex-tra-family factors that predict edu-cational involvement. As shown inFigure 1, these factors are grouped

together in three levels: individual,contextual and institutional.

Another significant model is thatof Hoover-Dempsey et al. (2005),Walker, Wilkins, Dallaire, Sandlerand Hoover-Dempsey (2005) andGreen, Walker, Hoover-Dempseyand Sandler (2007). Their contribu-tion is based, above all, on the studyof variables of a psychological na-


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Figure 2. Levels 1 and 2 of Walkers et al. (2005) theoretical model of parent involvementprocess.

ture (self-efficacy, role construc-tion) that may bear on the involve-ment of parents in the education oftheir children. Involvement can beeither home-based or school-based.Involvement in the school refers tofamilys participation in differentschool activities: attending specialevents, volunteering, etc. As regardsinvolvement at home, they point tothe dialogue between parents andchildren about school, supervisinghomework, etc.

According to Figure 2, three

motivational sources enable theprocess of educational involvement(school/home): 1) parents motiva-tional beliefs: includes parental roleconstruction and parents sense ofefficacy in helping the child suc-ceed at school; 2) the perceptionby parents of the invitations to in-volvement from the school, fromthe teaching staff and from their

children; 3) parents perceived lifecontext: self-perceived skills andknowledge, self-perceived time andenergy.

The models proposed by Epsteinet al. (2002) and Hoover-Demp-sey et al. (2005) illustrate a tradi-tional model of parent educationalinvolvement related, above all, withpractices of an academic nature (re-vising and helping with homework,participating in school activities,volunteer work, etc.). From this per-spective, involvement in the school-

home area can be said to be limitedto the educational practices of fami-lies with a medium-high socioeco-nomic and educational level. In thissense, Grolnick et al. (1997) pro-vides a more ample vision, with theinclusion of thepersonal dimensionwithin parent educational involve-ment, and provides greater possi-bilities to more precisely identify


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the diversity within the educational

practices of families. In any case,the research undertaken on familyinvolvement in education and thefactors favouring it has yet to showconclusive results (Hong & Ho,2005; Shumow & Miller, 2001).

The work presented here wasundertaken with immigrant families.The starting point hypothesis is thefact that, given their specificity, im-migrant families may present certaincontinuities, adaptations or rupturesin the educational relations madein the new environment, accord-ing to how they have adapted so-cially, culturally and educationally.Research about educational involve-ment of this population has been de-veloped especially in countries withmajor immigration intake. Auerbach(2007) and Mrquez (2010), in theirstudies on Latin American familiesresident in the United States, con-ceive parental educational involve-ment in the wider context of edu-cational support. Significant is thefact that Latin American immigrantfamilies apply educational practiceslinked more to values: educatingfor the consideration of others, re-spect for elderly persons, sense of

authority, co-operation (Delgado-Gaitn, 2004), as well as instill-ing respect for teachers, encourag-ing good behaviour in school bytheir child, and the socialising thechild to their family responsibilities(Chrispeels & Rivero, 2001).

Research in the Spanish Statepoints to the low participation ofimmigrant families in school life

(Bartolom, 1999; Garreta & Lle-

vot, 2007), being more common forthem to limit themselves to makingcontact with the classroom teacher(Aguado, Buenda, Marn, & So-riano, 2006). Garreta (2008), bas-ing conclusions on data from thepresidents of Parents Associationsin Spain, points to immigrant fami-lies tending more to become justmembers of the association ratherthan participate in school activi-ties. However, the families do placegreat value on the education of theirchildren (Santos, Lorezon, & Prie-gue, 2011) although they differen-tiate the family educational spacefrom that of the school (Aparicio,2003).

The research in this paper isbased on a previous qualitativestudy undertaken in order to iden-tify the meaning and significancethat immigrant families resident inthe Autonomous Community of theBasque Country (CAPV-EAE) giveto educational involvement, andthus construct a questionnaire withindicators based on the perspectiveof the families themselves and ontheoretical fundamentation (Etxe-berria & Intxausti, 2009). The re-

search described in this paper canbe considered pioneer in the sensethat it was carried out with a rep-resentative cross-section of immi-grant families within the CAPV-EAE, taking into consideration theeducational involvement of the fam-ily in the two spheres the homeand the school. It was thus under-taken on the factors that might fa-


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vour the educational involvement of

immigrant families, with the goal ofdeveloping strategies for enhancingthe relationship between them andthe school.

Drawing up work objectivesnecessarily involves the hypoth-eses put forward in this research.The first goal of the research wasto identify the educational involve-ment of immigrant families in theschool and the home. The hypoth-esis is that educational involvementof immigrant families is greater inthe home than in the school and isaimed at fomenting educational val-ues.

The second aim is to identifythe relationship between involve-ment of the family in the school andits socio-demographical character-istics, its educational task (experi-ence, perception and role), and thetask of the school (acceptance, com-munication, invitation). The initialhypothesis regarding this objectiveis that a positive perception of thefamily of its educational task andthat of the school favours their in-volvement in the school.

The third objective is to see ifany differences in family involve-

ment in the home are associatedwith its socio-demographical char-acteristics, the perception of its ed-ucational task and the educationaltask of the school. The hypothesisformulated is that the more positiveperception the family has of theireducational task (experience, per-ception and role) and the task of theschool (acceptance, communication,

invitation), the greater their involve-

ment in the home.

Method

Participants

The sampling unit was theschool, 24 being the number of Pri-mary Education Schools chosenin the Autonomous Community ofthe Basque Country (CAPV-EAE).In order to obtain a representativesample of immigrant families, arandom and stratified sample wastaken, the following levels beingtaken into account: the school sec-tor (public sector or grant-aided),the language model (Model A-B-D)and the Basque province in ques-tion (lava/Araba, Bizkaia and Gi-puzkoa). The sample was based onthe census data on immigrant pu-pils provided by the Department ofEducation of the Basque Govern-ment.

From these 24 schools, a sam-ple of 302 immigrant parents whowere born outside Spain and cur-rently living in the CAPV-EAE andwho have at least one child being

schooled at Primary level, was se-lected. It should be rememberedthat, while the sample was of 302family units, given the presence ofvalues absent for various variables,and which will be included in thedescriptions and perceptive statisti-cal analyses for obtaining the finalresults and drawing conclusions, theeffective size of the sample of par-


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ents and children may diminish andoscillate, according to different var-iables and causal schema.

As shown in Table 1, most in-dividuals in the sample, 81.5%,were women, with an average age

Table 1

Descriptive Statistics of the Sample of Families

Variable Values Frequency %

SexWomen

Men

246

56

81.5

18.5

Age

20-29 years

30-39 years

40-49 years

50-59 years

Over 60 years

50

164

63

8

1

17.5

57.3

22.0

2.8

0.3

Country

of origin

European Union

Rest of Europe

North America

Central America and Caribbean

South America

Asia

Maghreb

Sub-Saharan Africa

69

10

2

11

151

11

41

7

22.8

3.3

1.0

3.6

50.0

3.6

13.6

2.3

Language

of origin

Spanish

Non-Spanish

155

147

48.7

51.3

Formal

education

University Studies

Professional and technical training

Bachillerato (6th Form)

Secondary Education

Primary Education

Reading and writing

Neither reading and writing

35

28

93

65

69

6

5

11.6

9.3

30.9

21.6

22.9

2.0

1.7

Professionalcharacteristics

Higher National Diploma

Ordinary National Diploma

Ancillaries, office workers

Skilled tradespersonsHousework

Unskilled, semi-skilled, security guards, shop assistants

Do not work

Cannot find work

3

3

20

6874

27

36

70

1.0

1.0

6.6

22.624.6

9.0

12.0

23.3


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of 35 and a standard deviation

of 6.7 years. Half of these camefrom South America, whose com-mon family language, in the caseof 48.7%, is Spanish. This is fol-lowed by those 22.8% who comefrom the European Union and those13.6% who come from Maghreb.The language of origin of 51.3%is not Spanish. As regards formaleducation acquired, 30.9% haveBachillerato (equivalent to the UK6th form), 22.9% have Primary Edu-cation, 21.6% Secondary Education,9.3% have professional and techni-cal training and 11.6% universitystudies. 2% state they can only readand write and 1.7% have no suchliteracy. 24.6% state they work atremunerated housework, 22.6% saythey are skilled workers and 9% arein less qualified posts, such as un-skilled and semiskilled jobs, secu-rity guards, and so on. 23.3% say

Table 2

Descriptive Statistics of the Sample

of Children

Variable Values N %

SexGirlBoy

150150

50.050.0

Languagemodel

Model AModel BModel D

8286

131

27.428.843.8

Schoolresults

ExcellentVery goodGoodSufficientInsufficient

142719459

0.4015.726.635.222.1

they are looking for a job but cannot

find one.In Table 2 the characteristics ofthe Primary Education schoolchildrenof the families studied are described.

There is 50% of each sex. As re-gards the language model, 27.2%carry out their curricular studies inmodel A, 28.8% in model B and43.8% in model D. Regarding schoolresults, 22.1% obtained results whichwere classed insufficient; 35.2% suf-ficient; 26.6% good; 15.7% verygood and 0.4% excellent.

Instrument

The questionnaire was drawnup based on a qualitative study car-ried out employing in-depth inter-views with 24 immigrant familieswith children studying Primary Ed-ucation in the CAPV-EAE (Etxe-berria & Intxausti, 2009). Their re-search enabled the establishmentof different dimensions in order todraw up the questionnaire IMFAEDthat incorporates an understand-ing of the reality of the persons in-terviewed, in order to obtain moregeneralisable data. The question-naire was given, as a pilot project,

to six families. Also it was placedat the disposal of experts on educa-tion, sociology of immigration andmethodology of education. Oncediscussed its appropriateness interms of content, structure, meas-urement and linguistic formulation,a number of changes were made,of a linguistic and cultural nature,and in terms of the structure of the


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blocks. It was considered conven-

ient in some cases, due to the di-versity of situations, to translate thequestionnaire into family languages.It was translated into Arabic due tocommunicative difficulties causedby linguistic and cultural distance.Gathering qualitative data prior tothe quantitative research, togetherwith the theoretical revision, and therevision of the participants and ex-

perts from the preliminary project,it was possible to make an appropri-ate definition of the variables.

For purposes of measurementthe questionnaire was made up ofthree blocks. The first block con-tains closed questions, dichotomous(yes or no answers) and items with aLikert evaluation scale of five alter-native options between one and five

(1 = none and 5 = much). Blocks 2and 3 contain items with a Likertevaluation scale with the same fivealternatives.

1. Block one of the questionnaire,shown in Table 3, pertains to theperception by the family of itseducational task in regard to theschool and the home. It includes16 items with reference to ex-

perience in the educational task,perception about the social net-work in the school, educationalself-efficacy, the emotional di-mension, and its role construc-tion for involvement ( = .71only for items on the LikertScale). It is based on the previ-ously mentioned work by Grol-nick and Slowiaczek (1994), and

Table 3

Resume of the Independent Variablesmaking up the Perception by the Family

of its Educational Task (School and Home)

Perception by the family of its educational task(school and home)

Experience in contact with teacher (coun-try of origin/host country)

Perception of

the social network in the school

educational self-efficacyemotional dimension (in contact with

teacher/with child)

Role construction for involvement

with the classroom teacherin academic support at home

Walker et al. (2005) and on thepreliminary qualitative research.

2. The second block, shown in Ta-ble 4, pertains to the perceptionby the family of the educationaldimension of the school. It in-cludes 15 items on the generalacceptance by the school, thecontact that the teacher estab-lishes with the parents and the in-vitations from teacher and childto involvement ( = .70); Some

items are based on the question-naire by Hoover-Dempsey et al.(2005) and Watkins (1997) withsome modification in terms ofthe preliminary qualitative work.

3. The third block of the ques-tionnaire pertains to family ed-ucational involvement withthe school and in the home( = .75). Based on the prior


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Table 4

Resume of the Independent Variablesmaking up the Perception by the Family of

the Educational Task of the School

Perception by the family of educational taskof the school

General acceptance by the schoolContact made by the classroom teacherInvitation to involvement from classroomteacherInvitation to involvement from the child

qualitative work, five dependentvariables have been identified,including 19 items encompass-ing school and home environ-ments (Table 5).

Table 5

Resume of the Dependent Variables making

up Family Educational Involvement

Domains Dependent variables

School

Involvement with generalschool activities (IGSA)

Involvement with the class-room teacher(IT)

Home

Involvement in motivationalsupport (IMS)

Involvement in academic sup-port at home (IASH)

Involvement in educational val-ues (IEV)

Procedure

The empirical study involveda descriptive design although there

was also a co-relational compo-

nent. Data gathering involved a re-quest for access authorisation fromthe Department of Education of theBasque Government, which facili-tated the census data on enrolledimmigrant pupils; data based on theschool sector, the language modeland on the province. Following onfrom this, meetings were arrangedwith the managements of the se-lected schools. They were informedof the research, requesting theiragreement and co-operation.

Once the agreement of theschools was obtained, the familieswere contacted informing them ofthe research and inviting them toparticipate using the official lan-guages and in the most spokentongues of the group in question(Arabic and Romanian). From thesethe numbers of pupils participat-ing and of the corresponding fami-lies (302) were extrapolated. Thequestionnaire with the families wasundertaken by means of personalinterview, thus enabling compli-ance thereof. Nonetheless, the lim-ited knowledge of Spanish of somefamilies conditioned the response tocertain items on the questionnaire,

thus explaining the variability of thesample with respect to a number ofvariables. Data referring to pupilswas obtained from their classroomteachers (sex, language model) andthe school results of the children ofthe interviewed families obtainedwith their permission and authori-sation. This explains the loss of cer-tain data, especially school results,


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access to these being authorised by

267 families.Data analysis

Through the descriptive analy-sis of the items of dependent vari-ables, the mean and standard de-viation are obtained. At the sametime, an inferential analysis usingANOVA was carried out comparingthe means between dependent vari-ables of parent educational involve-ment and independent variables: thesocio-demographic characteristicsof the families (language of origin,formal education), and of children(gender, language model, school re-sults); the perception of the familyabout its educational task in relationto the school and home; and the per-ception of the family about the edu-cational task of the school.

The binary relations betweena qualitative variable and a quan-titative one were studied using theanalysis of variance (ANOVA) ofa factor. To test the hypothesis, theunivariate general linear model was

used with its varieties of linear re-

gression and analysis of variance.The effect sizes values are presentedin the results. It has been evaluatedas quotient between explained SS(or between) and total SS, that is,Eta partial square. The diversityof index to evaluate effect size ex-plains that - authors such Elmoreand Rotou (2001), Hill and Thomp-son (2004), Kirk (1996), Vacha-Haase and Thompson (2004) etc.mention the word dozens in theirworks - and in order to facilitatesubsequent meta-analyses, it seemsreasonable to publish the most pri-mary index. All the results were ob-tained using the 17.0 version of theSPSS programme.

Results

Descriptive results of familyeducational involvement

Presented in Table 6 are the re-sults pertaining to the componentfactors of the educational involve-

Table 6Descriptive Results of Educational Involvement of Immigrant Families

IGSA IT IMS IASH IEV

M 1.48 2.57 4.11 3.01 3.90D.T. 0.72 0.89 0.61 1.04 0.56

N 282 282 282 282 282

Note: IGSA = Involvement with general school activities; IT = Involvement with the classroomteacher; IMS = Involvement in motivational support; IASH = Involvement in academic support athome; IEV = Involvement in educational values.


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ment of immigrant families in re-

sponse to the first objective of thestudy; to identify the educational in-volvement of immigrant families inthe school and in the home.

After undertaking an analysis ofrepeated measurements in which thedependent variables are those shownin Table 6 for educational involve-ment of immigrant families and,once ordered according to mean val-ues with the goal of comparingthem, multivariate contrast givesas result the Wilks lambda = 088,F (4. 278) = 717.620 (p = .000;Eta2 = .912); thus there being a sig-nificant difference between at leasttwo of the mean values. In order toelucidate this question, a compari-son of main effects was carried out,adjusting confidence intervals byBonferroni method; the results be-ing shown in Table 7. Here also theeffect size can be observed, calcu-lating as the Eta squared for eachpair of differences, observing thatthe greatest differences are betweenIGSA and IASH.

As shown in Table 7, involve-ment with general school activi-ties (IGSA) is low with an aver-age of 1.48 (on a scale from 1 to 5),

while involvement with the class-room teacher (IT) is somewhatgreater, with an average of 2.57.In the home, families demonstratea greater tendency to use motiva-tional strategies (IMS) for the learn-ing of their children, with an aver-age of 4.11, than educating in values(IEV), being the average 3.90 andsignificantly less than the previous.

Table 7

Distribution and Comparison betweenDifferent Variables of Family Educational

Involvement

Pair of variables F(1, 281) p Eta2

IGSA-IT 315.929 .000 .529IT-IASH 49.596 .000 .150IASH-IEV 208.192 .000 .426IEV-IMS 23.219 .000 .076

Moreover, direct academic supportin the home (IASH) is the lowestwith an average of 3.01.

Correlational results of familyeducational involvement

To this end, the proposal of Leeand Bowen (2006) and Manz, Fan-tuzzo, and Power (2004) was em-ployed, defending the use of corre-lational analyses separately for eachone of the variables that make upfamily educational involvement. Ofthe five dependent variables mak-ing up family educational involve-ment, in this work the analysis oftwo dependent variables are pre-sented as being the most representa-tive: 1) Involvement with the class-

room teacher and 2)Involvement inacademic support at home. The restof dependent variables: involvementwith general school activities, in-volvement in motivational supportand involvement in educational val-ues do not present sufficient vari-ability.

TheInvolvement with the class-room teacher is a variable made up


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of a Likert scale obtained from the

average of 4 items ( = .662). TheInvolvement in academic supportat home is a variable made up of aLikert-type scale also obtained fromthe average of 4 items ( = .730).The independent variables that thisresearch deals with (see Tables 1and 2) are defined by componentsthat refer to the school domain andthat of the home; for example, therole construction for involvementvariable includes two components:contact with the classroom teacherin the school, and academic supportat home. Thus the inferential analy-sis with the dependent variables wascarried out with the correspondingitems in each case (school/home).

Correlational analysisof variables of family

involvement with theclassroom teacher

The second objective is to iden-tify the relation between involve-ment of the family in the schooland its socio-demographical char-acteristics, its educational task (ex-perience, perception, role) and thetask of the school (acceptance, com-

munication, invitation). A series ofcontrasts of the means between fam-ily involvement with the classroomteacher (IASH) and independentvariables was undertaken. Firstly, inTable 8, the comparison is presentedbetween means of involvement withthe classroom teacher depending on

different alternatives of the inde-

pendent variable of experience incontact with teacher (country of ori-gin/host country). This variable wasanswered only by the group of fam-ilies whose children attended schoolin country of origin when they werestill there.

The analysis of variance in Ta-ble 8 indicates that involvementwith the classroom teacher var-ies significantly depending on howthe experience in contact with pre-vious teachers of their child waslike (F3, 161 = 27.981, p < .001;Eta2 = .343).

The multiple comparisons usingthe Bonferroni method presentedin the last column of Table 8 indi-cate that the differences betweenmeans are significant in all familiesexcept amongst the group of fami-lies that stated they had had contactwith the teacher of their childrensschool in the country of origin butnot with the host country teacherand amongst the group of familiesthat stated the opposite tendency,absence of contact with teacherin the country of origin but con-tact with the one in the host coun-try. Likewise it is confirmed that

the greater the experience of fami-lies in contacting previous teach-ers of their child (in country of ori-gin/host country), then the greateris their involvement with the cur-rent classroom teacher. Effect sizeis calculated as Hedges adjusted g(Pardo & San Martn, 1998).


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Table 8

Relation between Involvement with the Classroom Teacher (IASH) and its Experience inContact with Teacher (Country of Origin/Host Country)

Experience in contact with teacher n M DT Means post hoc comparisons

(Bonferroni method)

No contact withteacher from

country of origin nor from host

country

26 1.76 .50

Contact with teacher from

country of origin, not from

that of host country

.72**

(.28)

No contact with teacher

from country of origin, but

with host country one

.91**

(.35)

Contact with teacher bothfrom country of origin/

host country

1.59**

(.61)

Contact with teacher from

country of origin, not from that

of host country

64 2.48 .74

No contact with teacher

from country of origin, but

with host country one

.19

(.03)

Contact with teacher both

from country of origin/host

country

.87**

(.15)

No contact withteacher from

country of origin, but with hostcountry one

34 2.67 .66

Contact with teacher both

from country of origin/hostcountry

.68**(.18)

Contact with teacher both from

country of origin/ host country41 3.35 .80

Total 165 2.62 .87

* p < .05. ** p < .01.

Note: In each cell of multiple comparisons differences of means are represented and in brackets are ef-fect sizes as standardized means differences.

In Table 9 a series of contrastsof the means between dependentvariable and the rest of independentvariables is presented.

The analysis of variance and sig-nificance, as shown in Table 9, indi-cates that the differences are signifi-cant except in the general acceptanceby the school (p = .503). The greater

the social network in the school, theirperception of self-efficacy, their con-structed role in engaging with theclassroom teacher, the contact madeby the classroom teacher and the in-vitation to involvement from class-room teacher and from their child,then the greater the family involve-ment with the classroom teacher.


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Table 9

Differences between the Means for Involvement with the Classroom Teacher (IT)in Accordance with Independent Variables

Independent variables M D.T. n p Eta2

Social Network in School

None 2.27 0.85 67

.000 .072Few 2.48 0.81 120Moderate 2.91 0.96 48Sufficient 2.71 0.89 44Much 3.05 0.86 15

Educational Self-Efficacy

None 1.69 0.62 9

.000 .082

Few 2.25 0.83 47

Moderate 2.44 0.95 67Sufficient 2.69 0.82 71Much 2.79 0.84 100

Confidence in Contact withTeacher

None 2.00 0.71 2


Role Construction forInvolvement with classroom

Teacher

None 1.75 0.00 1


General Acceptance by theSchool

None 1.75 1.06 2


Contact made by the ClassroomTeacher

None 1.86 1.00 20


Invitation to Involvement fromClassroom Teacher

None 1.93 0.76 164


Invitation to Involvement fromthe Child

None 2.06 0.75 24



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Table 10

The influence on Involvement with the Classroom Teacher (IT)

Source F(v1, v2) Eta2

Intersection F(1, 154) = 230.185 ** .599Experience in contact with teacher F(3, 154) = 19.867 ** .279Invitation to involvement from classroom teacher F(1, 154) = 11.252 ** .068Gender of child F(1, 154) = 5.823 * .036

* p < .05. ** p < .01.

Table 11Estimations of Parameters on Involvement with the Classroom Teacher (IT)

ParameterEstimation

(e.t.e)Eta2

Intersection 2.95 (.202)** .580Experience in contact with teacherNo contact with teacher from country of origin/host country 1.39 (.188)** .262Contact with teacher from country of origin, not from that of

host country.78 (.138)** .171

No contact with teacher from country of origin, but with hostcountry one .62 (.158)** .092

Invitation to involvement from classroom teacher .14 (.040)** .068Girl (reference = boy) .26 (.108)** .036

* p < .05. ** p < .01.

Note: e.t.e: standard error of estimate.

The results of the joint study of

the variables that influence the in-volvement of the families with theclassroom teacher only take into ac-count, from these distinct models,the independent variables signifi-cantly linked to the dependent vari-able. The analysis of univariate co-variance with the involvement withthe classroom teacher dependentvariable and the most influencing

independent variables is presented

in Table 10.Table 11 shows that experience

in contact with teacher, invitation toinvolvement from classroom teacherand gender of child are the varia-bles that influence the involvementof the families with the classroomteacher.

Taking the families as a refer-ence when referring to their male


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Table 12

Differences between the Means for Involvement in Academic Support at Home (IASH) inAccordance with Independent Variables

Independent variables M D.T. n p Eta2

Educational Self-Efficacy

None 1.50 0.38 8


Communicative Feelingwith the Child

None 1.12 0.17 2


Role Construction forInvolvement in Academic

Support

None 2.37 1.59 2


General acceptance by theSchool

None 3.50 0.00 2


Contact made by theClassroom Teacher

None 2.64 1.04 22


Invitation to Involvementfrom Classroom Teacher

None 2.59 1.08 57


Invitation to Involvementfrom the Child

None 1.68 0.46 25



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children and those contacting the

classroom teacher in the countryof origin and also that of the hostcountry, for which the average fam-ily involvement is 2.95 (p < .01), thefollowing effects were produced:

a decrease of 0.26 points whenreferring to girl child (p < .01);

a decrease of 1.39 points if theydid not contact with teacher fromcountry of origin nor from host

country (p < .01); a decrease of .78 points if theycontacted with teacher fromcountry of origin, but not withhost country one (p < .01);

a decrease of .62 points if theydid not contact with teacher fromcountry of origin but contactedwith host country one (p < .01).

In short, involvement drops asexperience in contact with teacherdiminishes. Moreover, for eachpoint increase in the invitation tofamily involvement from classroomteacher, families involvement withthe classroom teacher increases by0.14 points (p < .01).

Correlational analysis ofvariables of family involvement

in academic support

The third research objective isto see if any differences in familyinvolvement in the home are asso-ciated with its socio-demographicalcharacteristics, perception of its edu-cational task and educational task ofthe school. A series of comparisonsof the means between this depend-

ent variable and independent varia-

bles was undertaken in Table 12.As shown in Table 12, the anal-ysis of variance shows that familyinvolvement in academic support athome varies significantly dependingon the independent variables consid-ered, with the exception of generalacceptance (p = .746). The greateris the perception of educational self-efficacy, their role of involvement

in academic support, the contact es-tablished by the classroom teacherand the invitation from the latter andfrom the child to family involve-ment, greater is their involvement inacademic support at home.

Presented in Table 13 are theanalyses of univariate covariancewith the dependent involvement inacademic support at home variable

and the most significant independ-ent variables.Table 14 shows that the linguis-

tic model of child, formal educationof family, gender of child, role con-struction in academic support, edu-cational self-efficacy, and invitationto involvement from the child vari-ables are those that have influenceon family involvement in academicsupport at home.

As indicated in Table 14, takingfamilies with boy child studying inModel D as reference, the follow-ing effects are produced in their in-volvement in academic support.

an increase of .196 points inmodel B (p < .01);

an increase of .462 points inmodel A (p < .01);


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Table 13

The Influence on Involvement in Academic Support at Home (IASH)

Source F(v1, v2) Eta2

Intersection .006 .000Language model of child F(2, 281) = 7.901 ** .053Formal education of family F(1, 281) = 9.493 ** .033Gender of child F(1, 281) = 9.383 ** .032Role construction in academic support F(1, 281) = 10.957 ** .038Educational self-efficacy F(1, 281) = 18.878 ** .063Invitation to involvement from the child F(1, 281) = 45.584 ** .140

* p < .05. ** p < .01.

Table 14

Estimates of Parameters on the Influence on Family Involvement

in Academic Support at Home (IASH)

Parameter Estimates (e.t.e.) Eta2

Intersection .192 (.333)** .001Linguistic model of child

Model A .462 (.116)** .053Model B .196 (.114)** .001

Formal Education of family .225 (.073)** .033Girl (reference = boy) .292 (.095)** .032Role construction in academic support .229 (.069)** .038Educational self-efficacy .200 (.046)** .063Invitation to involvement from the child .260 (.039)** .140

* p < .05. ** p < .01.

an decrease of .292 points whenreferring to girl child (p < .01).

Moreover, in respect to the restof covariables, if formal education,constructed role in academic sup-port, educational self-efficacy andthe invitation by the child to familyinvolvement increase by one point,the family academic support at

home increase respectively by .22,.23, .20, and .26 points (p < .01).

Discussion

The first hypothesis is con-firmed since families tend to en-gage less in the school than in the


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home. In school their role focuses

on the relation with the classroomteacher and to a lesser extent oninvolvement in general activities.Other researchers also confirm thisresult (Aguado et al., 2006; Red-ding, 2006). The involvement ofimmigrant families in the home fo-cuses, above all, on the motiva-tional support and the transmissionof values. Their involvement withrespect to direct academic supportis less, as has been shown in otherresearch work (Auerbach, 2007;Lpez, 2001).

The second hypothesis is par-tially confirmed since the positiveperception of the educational taskof the family (experience, percep-tion, role) favours its involvementin school. Nevertheless, the schoolinfluence on that involvement isonly through a personal relationshipwith the classroom teacher and notthrough a general acceptance of theschool.

Experiences of contacting theteacher in the country of originhelps, to some extent, the contactwith teachers in the host country,in such a way that the experiencesgained have a certain continuity.

The work of other authors supportsthese results (Anderson & Minke,2007; Garreta, 2008). Perhaps thisis due to the greater knowledge ofhow a school works and greater fa-miliarity with it in its own context.

It is observed that the relation-ship of the immigrant family withother families in the school favoursan involvement with the teacher.

Other research has borne out that

social relations provide familieswith the possibility of acceding togreater resources (Symeou, 2006),although it may be that the fami-lies are not aware of the importanceof having social networks to obtainpositive benefits for their children(Grolnick et al., 1997). In the caseof immigrant families, relationshipswith other families may turn out tobe beneficial for the better knowl-edge of the new school system ofthe host country.

It is seen that the greater the de-gree of perception of self-efficacy,the greater is the family involve-ment with the classroom teacher.The very fact of perceiving that thisinfluences the educational destinyof their children probably motivatesthem to seek support and guidancefrom the teacher. Some authorspoint out that intellectual confidenceis related to voluntary participationin the school (Aguado, Ballesteros,Malik, & Snchez, 2003; Nieto &Bode, 2008), above all when partic-ipating in the decision-making bod-ies of the school. On occasions thiscan be affected by poor languageskills in the new country.

The perception by the fami-lies of their educational role bearson their school involvement. Inthe case of immigrant families, themove from the society of origin tothe host one may give rise to greateruncertainty as regards the educa-tional role which they deem theyhave to take on for the new schooland its educational demands. Fami-


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lies hold a clearer view of the role

they have to play in the home pos-sibly due to the fact that this contin-ues to be a privileged space wheretraditions are safeguarded (Etxeber-ria & Intxausti, 2009). Neverthe-less, collaboration between schooland family may be made more diffi-cult if the families and the school donot share the same approach in theirroles. Thus, future programmes forfamilies will have to consider howfamilies perceive their educationalrole (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005)and, more so, review the concept offamily educational involvement thatthe school promotes.

The results of the study confirmthat a general acceptance by theschools is not sufficient reason initself for a greater degree of familyinvolvement with the school. Thatconfirms what others have argued(Epstein, 1986; Green et al., 2007;Griffith, 1998). One of the factorsis the fact that the general invitationfrom the school influences familyinvolvement solely through the in-vitation from the classroom teacher.In this way the school can, throughan individualised relationship, en-courage greater relations between

family and school. A greater invi-tation by the children to involve-ment with them can be a reason fora greater degree of contact with theclassroom teacher.

The joint study of variablesshows that a greater influence infamily involvement with the class-room teacher corresponds to theirexperience in contact with the class-

room teacher in both the country of

origin and the host country, to theinvitation to involvement from theclassroom teacher and to the gen-der of the child. In this way, in or-der to encourage greater relation-ships between family and school,an individualised relationship of theteacher with the family will have tobe encouraged.

The third hypothesis is partiallyconfirmed. The joint study of vari-ables shows that family involve-ment in academic support at homeis more influenced by the verycharacteristics of the families (for-mal education, perceptions of con-structed role and self-efficacy) andchildrens invitation to involvementand their gender and linguistic mod-els of study, the influence of theclassroom teacher being less impor-tant.

Educational self-efficacy theperception of the capacity of thefamily to influence school results,was confirmed to be important,not only for the childs academicachievement (Rosario et al., 2009)but when parents help in academictasks. Other authors also confirmthis (Delgado-Gaitn, 2004; Hoo-

ver-Dempsey et al., 2005; Greenet al., 2007; Ji & Koblinsky, 2009;Sheldon, 2002). The perception thatfamilies have of their role in aca-demic support guides their practicesof academic help in the home, andconfirm what other authors havepointed out (Redding, 2006; Walkeret al., 2005). The general acceptanceby the school is not a motivating el-


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ement for greater family academic

support in the home. However, theimportance of the invitation to in-volvement from the child with ac-ademic support at home is con-firmed, as has been shown in otherresearch work (Balli, 1996; Greenet al., 2007).

The family takes on the motiva-tional task and education of valuesfrom the home, while they leave theacademic support function, more orless, in the hands of the school. Thetendency shown by families to dif-ferentiate the world of the schooland that of the home may have im-portance and, thus, can guide theiracademic support to a greater de-gree, depending on their personalsituation and the situation of thechild, rather than on the invitationmade by classroom teacher.

From these results some practi-cal implications for education canbe deduced. Interactive relation-ship between family and school ishighlighted. A more personal, closercontact and a more ongoing one arenecessary to contribute to educa-tional involvement. As Andersonand Minke (2007) have pointed out,families may interpret this invitation

by the school in different manners.Possibly, the strategy would be notto force the participation in activitiesremote from their culture or distantfrom their intellectual capacity, butinstead to provide ways of partici-pating adapted to the families, to thepoint that a wide-ranging proposal isneeded, in its forms and levels, re-sponding to individual needs.

A climate of communica-

tive relationships can be createdwhich will enable having greaterknowledge regarding the thinkingof the families and the interpreta-tion thereof made by the school.This will enable dealing with vari-ous topics of interest to both thefamilies and the teachers: knowingthe bilingual educational reality ofthe country, increasing awarenessof languages and cultures and cre-ating ways of inclusion, and know-ing the involvement of gender rolesin education and the importance ofcommunication networks betweenfamilies. Evidently, this researchindicates the need to interact withthe immigrant families, that theyshould not be on the periphery ofthe school but should acquire theirrole of participation in the schoolwith the latters help.

Amongst the limitations of theresearch, the communicative dif-ficulty for families with lim-ited knowledge of Spanish can bepointed out. The cultural distanc-ing of some families has condi-tioned data gathering, although theclimate of relationships may havebeen good. Taking the family as a

unit, the poor participation of fa-thers can be mentioned. Future linesof research are proposed that ena-ble a thorough-going study through:1) drawing up an intervention pro-gramme to improve family-schoolrelations, and its subsequent appli-cation to and evaluation in schools;2) undertaking a diagnosis of theneeds for family-school relations in


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participating schools; 3) repeating

the research in schools at a Second-

ary Education level in the CAPV-

EAE.

Aguado, T., Ballesteros, B., Malik, B., &Sanchez, M. (2003). Educacin in-tercultural en la enseanza obligato-ria: prcticas escolares; actitudes yopiniones de padres, alumnos y pro-fesores; resultados acadmicos de losestudiantes de diversos grupos cultu-rales.RIE,21(2), 323-348. Retrievedfrom http://www.uned.es/grupointer/rie_2003_edu_inter.pdf

Aguado, T., Buenda, L., Marn, M.A., & Soriano, E. (2006). Nuevasformulas educativas ante la multi-culturalidad. In A. Delia & T. Escu-

dero (Coord.), Investigacin e inno-vacin educativa: algunos mbitos

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Anderson, K. J., & Minke, K. M. (2007).Parent involvement in education: to-ward an understanding of parents de-cision making. The Journal of Edu-cational Research, 100(5), 311-323.doi: 10.3200/JOER.100.5.311-323.

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menores extranjeros escolarizados.La familia y la integracion escolar

de los menores de origen extranjero.Madrid: Instituto Universitario de es-tudios sobre migraciones. Universi-dad Pontificia de Comillas.

Auerbach, S. (2007). From moral sup-porters to struggling advocates.Reconceptualizing parent roles ineducation through the experienceof working-class families of color.

Urban Education, 42(3), 250-283.doi:10.1177/0042085907300433.

Balli, S. J. (1996). Family diversity and thenature of parental involvement. TheEducational Forum, 60(2), 149-155.doi: 10.1080/00131729609335117.

Bartolom, M. (Coord.) (1999). Diag-nstico a la escuela multicultural.Barcelona: Cedecs.

Basque Government (2011a). Programade Interculturalidad y de inclusin

de alumnado recin llegado. Retrie-ved from http://www.hezkuntza.ejgv.euskadi.net/r43-2459/es/contenidos/

informacion/dig1/es_2084/g1_c.htmlBasque Government (2011b). Docu-

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Chrispeels, J. H., & Rivero, E. (2001).Enganging latino families for stu-

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y educacin: la visin de las familias,

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Feli Etxeberria, Professor of Language Education in the Department of Methods ofResearch and Diagnosis in Education at the University of the Basque Country.She is a researcher in the field of bilingualism and education, and language andculture in multicultural educational settings. The internationalization of her workis manifested in her participation in international research groups as SocratesProgramme of the European Community about teaching in second languages.She has national and international publications.

Nahia intxausti has a PhD in Education and lectures in the Department of Didacticsand School Organization at the University of the Basque Country. Her research

focuses primarily on issues of intercultural education and citizenship, and lan-guage learning in diverse contexts.

Luis Joaristi has a PhD in Education and lectures in the Department of Methods of Re-search and Diagnosis in Education at the University of the Basque Country. He is partof a recognized group by the UPV/EHU (GIU05/17). His research focuses primarilyon the evaluation of programs, schools and education systems, focusing on methodo-logical issues of data analysis and aspects related to second languages teaching.

Received date: 16-04-2012 Review date: 18-05-2012 Accepted date: 01-082012


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Factores que favorecen la implicacin educativa

de las familias inmigrantescon hijos en Educacin Primaria

Feli Etxeberria, Nahia Intxausti, y Luis JoaristiUniversidad del Pas Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

Resumen

El objetivo de esta investigacin fue describir los factores que pueden incidir en la implicacin educa-tiva de las familias inmigrantes en la Comunidad Autnoma del Pas Vasco. El aumento de la inmigra-

cin en esta comunidad autnoma espaola supone la incorporacin de alumnos con lenguas y culturasdiferentes en la escuela actual. Es importante responder a cuestiones como: Qu relacin existe entrela escuela y las familias inmigrantes?; Cmo es la implicacin educativa familiar?; Qu factoresintervienen?. El estudio con 302 familias revela que su percepcin y roles educativos sobre la escuelay el hogar son diferentes. Consideran la escuela como institucin educativa con poder para asegurar elxito acadmico, y el hogar como el lugar de desarrollo de las estrategias de motivacin para el apren-dizaje y transmisin de valores educativos familiares. Se da a conocer como factor importante la rela-cin personalizada entre familia y escuela para impulsar la implicacin educativa familiar en la escuela.

Palabras clave: Intervencin educativa, educacin, inmigracin, relacin escuela y familia, impli-cacin educativa familiar.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to describe factors that may influence immigrant families educationalinvolvement in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. The increase in immigration tothis autonomous community of Spain has meant the incorporation of pupils with different languagesand cultures into the current school. It is important to respond to such questions as: What is therelationship between the school and immigrant families?; What is the educational involvementlike in such families?; What are the influencing factors? The research with 302 families showsthat their perceptions and roles at school and in the home are different. The school is considered tobe an institution charged with ensuring academic success; the home to be the place for developingstrategies for motivating the learning and transmission of parental educational values. The personalisedrelationship between family and school seems to be an important factor in order to boost parentalinvolvement in the school.

Keywords: Educational intervention, education, immigration, school-family relationship, parental

involvement.

Correspondencia: Feli Etxeberria, Departamento de Mtodos de investigacin y diagnstico en educa-cin, Universidad del Pas Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Avenida Tolosa, 70, 20018-Donostia.E-mail: [email protected]

Revista de Psicodidctica, 2013,18(1), 109-136 ISSN: 1136-1034 eISSN: 2254-4372

www.ehu.es/revista-psicodidactica UPV/EHU

DOI: 10.1387/RevPsicodidact.5684


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110 FELI ETXEBERRIA, NAHIA INTXAUSTI, Y LUIS JOARISTI


Introduccin

La Comunidad Autnoma delPas Vasco (CAPV-EAE) es bilin-ge con dos lenguas oficiales: eleuskera, lengua minoritaria y el cas-tellano, lengua mayoritaria de la co-munidad autnoma. El sistema edu-cativo incorpora ambas lenguas enel contexto educativo con tres mo-delos lingsticos diferentes (Mo-

delo A, B y D) entre los cuales elmodelo D, con mayor inclusin deleuskera, es elegido por el 65.5% delos estudiantes de Educacin Prima-ria (Eustat, 2011). En los ltimosaos, ha habido un incremento im-portante de la poblacin inmigrantetransnacional en la CAPV-EAE. Enel ao 1998 la poblacin inmigranterepresentaba el 0.72% mientras queen el ao 2011 sta ascenda al 6.6%de la poblacin (INE, 2011). Ellotiene implicaciones para el mbitoeducativo.

Con la llegada del nuevo alum-nado al centro educativo la escuelatiene que establecer los canales decomunicacin con las nuevas fa-milias. El desconocimiento de lalengua familiar y la cultura de losescolares que llegan dificultan la re-

lacin comunicativa de la escuelacon la familia. Existen otros puntosdbiles, como los contextos socialesdesfavorecidos o situaciones de se-paracin familiar, debido a que al-gunos miembros familiares puedanhallarse en el pas de origen.

De cara a favorecer la incor-poracin del nuevo alumnado ascomo promover una educacin in-

tercultural en la comunidad edu-

cativa la Administracin vasca hapuesto en marcha el Programade interculturalidad y de inclusindel alumnado recin llegado (Go-bierno Vasco, 2011a). Se reconocela necesidad de intervenir con la fa-milia tanto en los procesos de aco-gida como en los de integracin es-colar y social. De ah que a travsdel profesor dinamizador de la in-terculturalidad se pretende promo-ver mayor contacto con las nuevasfamilias, incorporando as su legadocultural a travs de festividades, cu-rriculum educativo, y fomentandosu participacin en la escuela. ElGobierno Vasco ha desarrollado unagua informativa para las familiassobre el Sistema Educativo Vascoen nueve idiomas (espaol, euskera,francs, ingls, portugus, ruso, ru-mano, chino, rabe) as como do-cumentacin para informar a las fa-milias sobre la matrcula, algunosservicios, tutoras, y convivenciaescolar en once idiomas: espaol,euskera, francs, ingls, chino, ruso,rumano, ucraniano, polaco, rabe ywolof (Gobierno Vasco, 2011b).

Interesa conocer la implicacineducativa de estas familias con sus

hijos/as tanto en el hogar como enla escuela con objeto de hacer apor-taciones en el desarrollo de estrate-gias de mejora para la relacin entrela familia y la escuela.

Modelos de implicacin parental

El estudio de las relaciones pa-terno filiales ha sido un aspecto re-


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FACTORES QUE FAVORECEN LA IMPLICACIN EDUCATIVA DE LAS FAMILIAS... 111


levante en la literatura cientfica.

Desde la investigacin psicolgicamuchos han sido los estudios rea-lizados en torno a los estilos de so-cializacin parental y su relacincon el ajuste psicosocial de los hi-jos (Martnez, Garca, Musitu, y Yu-bero, 2012). Tambin cabe sea-lar la importancia de la implicacinde los estudiantes en su propio de-sarrollo acadmico y en el funcio-namiento del centro escolar comohan manifestado en sus trabajos deinvestigacin Ros, Goikoetxea, Gai-rn, y Lekue (2012). La implicacineducativa de la familia puede asser importante en la propia implica-cin del alumnado y en su trayecto-ria educativa incluida su escolariza-cin.

Siguiendo a Jeynes (2005) laimplicacin educativa familiar esla participacin de las familias enel proceso educativo y en las ex-periencias educativas de sus hijos/as. Sheldon (2003) seala que stase refiere a la inversin de recursosque llevan a cabo los padres en rela-cin a la educacin de sus hijos. Losmodelos que se han desarrollado enrelacin a este concepto se han ana-lizado desde diferentes enfoques.

Algunos autores estudian en mayorgrado la implicacin de la familiacon una orientacin, sobre todo, psi-colgica mientras que otros adoptanuna orientacin ms educativa con-siderando a la escuela como fac-tor de influencia en la implicacinfamiliar. Aqu podemos resaltar elmodelo de Epstein (Epstein, 1986;Epstein, 1990; Epstein et al., 2002).

En Estados Unidos su trabajo se ha

considerado relevante en las investi-gaciones, polticas y prcticas sobreel tema que tratamos. El modelo sesustenta en la teora de las esferassobrepuestas donde se definen tresesferas que influyen en el aprendi-zaje del alumnado: hogar, escuela ycomunidad. A mayor interaccin en-tre esferas, mayor es la probabilidadde que el alumnado reciba mensajescomunes y coherentes sobre temasescolares. Mayor es tambin la pro-babilidad de que la escuela y fami-lia adopten una misma orientaciny de que las comunidades apoyen asus familias, sus escuelas y su alum-nado. En su propuesta de interven-cin la colaboracin entre escuela,familia y comunidad interviene enel desarrollo de los diferentes tiposde implicacin que puede promoverla escuela incluyendo prcticas refe-ridas a: padres y madres, comunica-cin, voluntariado, aprendizaje en elhogar, toma de decisiones y la cola-boracin con la comunidad.

Otro modelo a destacar es elmodelo de Grolnick y Slowiaczek(1994) revisado por Grolnick, Ben-jet, Kurowski y Apostoleris (1997)quienes centran su mirada en la na-

turaleza multidimensional del con-cepto de la implicacin educativafamiliar. Para estas autoras la impli-cacin parental consiste en la asig-nacin de recursos que hace la fa-milia en diferentes mbitos (hogar,escuela y comunidad) para el logroeducativo de sus hijos e hijas. Defi-nen tres tipos de implicacin: esco-lar (implicacin de las familias en


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actividades pblicas de la escuela),

cognitiva (estimulacin de las fami-lias a actividades intelectuales comovisitar museos etc.) y personal (co-nocimiento e inters que manifies-tan los padres a sus hijos en torno ala vida diaria escolar).

Las citadas autoras sealanque las familias irn adoptandodiferentes formas de actuacin en

diferentes mbitos dependiendo de

los valores, tiempo o accesibilidada los recursos. Proponen un mo-delo multinivel que incluye fac-tores intra y extra familiares quepredicen la implicacin educativa.Estos factores se agrupan en tresplanos: individual, contextual einstitucional, como se indica en laFigura 1.

Otro modelo a destacar es eldesarrollado por Hoover-Demp-sey et al. (2005), Walker, Wilkins,Dallaire, Sandler y Hoover-Demp-

sey (2005), y Green, Walker, Ho-over-Dempsey y Sandler (2007). Sucontribucin est, sobre todo, en elestudio de variables de orden psico-

Figura 1. Modelo de Grolnick et al. (1997) que incluye los factores que predicen la impli-cacin parental en la escolarizacin del hijo/a.


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Figura 2. Niveles 1 y 2 del modelo terico de Walker et al. (2005) sobre el proceso de im-plicacin de los padres/ madres.

lgico (auto-eficacia, construccindel rol) que pueden incidir en la im-plicacin de los padres en la educa-cin de sus hijos/as. Esta implica-cin abarca dos mbitos, la escuelay el hogar. La implicacin en la es-cuela comprende la participacin dela familia en diferentes actividadesde la escuela; asistir a eventos espe-ciales, ejercer el voluntariado, etc.En referencia a la implicacin en elhogar sealan el dilogo entre pa-dres e hijos/as sobre el tema de la

escuela, supervisin de deberes, etc.Tal y como se indica en la Fi-gura 2, en su perspectiva tres fuen-tes motivacionales posibilitan elproceso de la implicacin educativa(escolar y de hogar): 1) las creen-cias motivacionales de los padres:construccin del rol y auto-eficaciapara ayudar al hijo/a en su xito es-colar; 2) percepcin de los padres

sobre la invitacin a la implicacinrealizada desde: la escuela en ge-neral, profesorado e hijo/a; 3) auto-percepcin de los padres sobre supropio contexto de vida: habilidadesy conocimiento, tiempo y energa.

Los modelos propuestos porEpstein et al. (2002) y Hoover-Dempsey et al. (2005) manifiestanun modelo tradicional de la impli-cacin educativa relacionada sta,sobre todo, con las prcticas de ca-rcter acadmico (revisin y ayuda

de deberes, participacin en activi-dades escolares, voluntariado, etc.).Desde esta perspectiva la implica-cin en el mbito escuela-hogar sepodra reducir a las prcticas edu-cativas de las familias con nivel so-cioeconmico y educativo medioalto. En este sentido, el modelo deGrolnick et al. (1997) da una vi-sin ms amplia con la inclusin


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de la dimensin personal dentro de

la implicacin educativa familiar yproporciona una mayor posibilidadpara identificar de forma ms pre-cisa la diversidad de las prcticaseducativas de las familias. En cual-quier caso, la investigacin reali-zada en torno a la implicacin edu-cativa familiar y los factores que lofavorecen no han generado todavaresultados concluyentes (Hong y Ho2005; Shumow y Miller, 2001).

La investigacin que se presentase ha realizado con familias inmi-grantes. Se parte de que, por su es-pecificidad, las familias inmigrantespueden presentar ciertas continui-dades, adaptaciones o rupturas enlas relaciones educativas que esta-blecen en el nuevo entorno segn laorientacin de su adaptacin social,cultural y educativa. La investiga-cin sobre la implicacin educativacon esta poblacin se ha realizadoen mayor grado en los pases recep-tores de mayor inmigracin. Auer-bach (2007) y Mrquez (2010) ensus estudios con familias latinas re-sidentes en Estados Unidos conci-ben la implicacin educativa fami-liar desde una mirada ms amplia deapoyo educativo. Se destaca que las

familias inmigrantes latinas llevan acabo prcticas educativas ms rela-cionadas con valores: educar en laconsideracin hacia los dems, res-peto a personas mayores, el sentidode la autoridad, cooperacin (Del-gado-Gaitn, 2004), as como in-culcar el respeto hacia la profesora,buen comportamiento en la escuela,y su socializacin en las responsabi-

lidades familiares (Chrispeels y Ri-

vero, 2001).Las investigaciones en el Estadoespaol apuntan una baja participa-cin de las familias inmigrantes enel mbito escolar (Bartolom, 1999;Garreta y Llevot, 2007), siendo mshabitual que stas opten por esta-blecer el contacto con el profesortutor (Aguado, Buenda, Marn, ySoriano, 2006). Garreta (2008) ba-sndose en los datos de los Presi-dentes de las Asociaciones de Ma-dres y Padres (AMPA) de Espaaadvierte que las familias inmigran-tes tienden ms a inscribirse en lapropia asociacin que a participaren las actividades de la escuela.Ahora bien, las familias concedengran valor a la educacin de sus hi-jos/as (Santos, Lorezon, y Priegue,2011) aunque el espacio educativofamiliar lo diferencien de la escuela(Aparicio, 2003).

Esta investigacin se basa enun estudio previo cualitativo quese ha realizado para identificar lossignificados que las familias inmi-grantes residentes en la CAPV-EAEconceden a su implicacin educa-tiva, y as construir un cuestionariocon indicadores procedentes desde

la propia visin de las familias y lafundamentacin terica (Etxeberriae Intxausti, 2009). Esta investiga-cin que presentamos puede consi-derarse pionero en el sentido de quese ha realizado con una representa-tividad de las familias inmigrantesen la Comunidad Autnoma Vasca.Se toma en consideracin el eje dela implicacin educativa de la fami-


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lia en dos mbitos, hogar y escuela.

Se realiza el estudio de los factoresque pueden favorecer la implicacineducativa de la familia inmigrantecon objeto de desarrollar estrategiasde mejora para la relacin entre stay la escuela.

La formulacin de los objetivosde trabajo lleva consigo las hipte-sis que se han planteado en la inves-tigacin. El primer objetivo de estainvestigacin es identificar la impli-cacin educativa de la familia inmi-grante en la escuela y en el hogar.La hiptesis es que la implicacineducativa de las familias inmigran-tes es mayor en el hogar que en laescuela, orientada sobre el fomentode valores educativos.

El segundo objetivo es conocerla relacin existente entre la impli-cacin de la familia en la escuelay sus caractersticas socio-demo-grficas, su tarea educativa (viven-cia, percepcin y rol), y la de laescuela (acogida, comunicacin, in-vitacin). La hiptesis de partidarespecto a este objetivo es que lapercepcin positiva de la familiasobre su propia tarea educativa (vi-vencia, percepcin, rol) y la de laescuela (acogida, comunicacin e

invitacin) favorece su implicacinen la escuela.El tercer objetivo es comprobar

las posibles diferencias en la impli-cacin en el hogar de las familiasasociadas a sus caractersticas so-cio-demogrficas, la percepcin desu tarea educativa y la tarea educa-tiva de la escuela. La hiptesis quese formula es que cuanto ms posi-

tiva sea la percepcin de la familia

sobre su tarea educativa (vivencia,percepcin, rol) y la de la escuela(acogida, comunicacin, invitacin)mayor ser su implicacin en el ho-gar.

Mtodo

Participantes

La unidad de muestreo ha sidoel centro escolar siendo 24 los Cen-tros Educativos de Educacin Pri-maria seleccionados en la Comuni-dad Autnoma del Pas Vasco. Paraobtener una muestra representativade las familias inmigrantes se haefectu

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