Relationship between School Climate and Parents‟ Involvement in Early Years Education: A Case of Military Sponsored Schools in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

Parental role in children’s learning is very important. The contribution of parents depends on how they perceive their roles in children’s’ education and the climate in schools. The purpose of the study was to establish the extent to which parents were involved in their children’s education in military sponsored preprimary schools in Nairobi County. The study also sought to find out the influence of school climate on parents’ involvement in children’s education. Ecological System and Social Exchange theories were used to guide the study. The dependent variable was parents’ involvement in children’s education, while the independent variables were school climate in pre-primary schools and strategies put in place to enhance the involvement. The study was conducted in military sponsored pre-primary schools in Nairobi City County. Purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select a sample for the study. Questionnaires for parents and interview schedules were used to collect data. Content validity was used to ensure validity of the instruments, while test-retest method was used to determine reliability of the instruments. The data was collected in two stages and analyzed using descriptive statistics and results presented using tables and text. The results from data analysis revealed that majority of the parents were sometimes involved in children’s education. School climate was found not to be significantly related to parents’ involvement in children’s education and the most common strategies used by schools to encourage parents to be involved in their children’s education were: Building good relationships; requiring parents to attend school meetings; providing welcoming environment and asking parents to ensure that children do homework.