CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Today’s children are fundamental to society because
they are our future; they hold the key to change, and in turn a successful
future, in their hands. Therefore, it is society’s duty to provide them with a
complete education that teaches them how to work together successfully, how to
question what is in front of them, and how to be catalysts of change. This
education starts with what children learn from their parents and from what they
learn in the first few years of their lives. This initial education impacts the
rest of their lives, and inherently society’s future. In his research,
Henderson and Mapp (2002) concludes that “Home background plays a significant
role in a young child’s orientation to literacy [and to education]. But home
background is a complex of economic, social, cultural, and even personal
factors.”
Neuman, Susan, and David, Dickinson (2002) said that
most research done on the parental involvement in their children’s education,
the most influential of these four interconnected elements described by them
are the personal backgrounds and the economic backgrounds of parents. These two
components also largely contribute to the home environment that they provide
for their children. With this information, it is important to note that parents
are one of the most influential yet significantly underrated factors in their
children’s education, and society should encourage more parental participation
in public education.
Education not only provides knowledge and skills,
but also inculcates values, training of instincts, fostering right attitude and
habits. According to Muhammed and Muhammed (2010) they are of the opinion that,
cultural heritage and values are transmitted from one generation to another
through Education. The responsibility of training a child always lies in the
hand of the parents. This is congruent with the common assertion by sociologist
that education can be an instrument of cultural change which is being taught
from home is relevant in this discuss. It is not out of place to imagine that
parental socio-economic background can have possible effects on the academic
achievement of children in school. Whatsoever affect the developmental stage of
children would possibly affect their education or disposition to it. Parental
status is one of such variables. When a woman’s nutritional status improves, so
too does the nutrition of her young children “Parents of different occupational
classes often have different styles of child rearing, different ways of
disciplining their children and different ways of reacting to their children.
These differences do not express themselves consistently as expected in the
case of every family; rather they influence the average tendencies of families
for different occupational classes.” (Rothestein, 2004).
In line with the above assertion, Hill et al. (2004)
had also argued that socio-economic status of parents do not only affect the
academic performance, but also makes it possible for children from low
background to compete with their counterparts from high socio-economic
background under the same academic environment.
The influence of parents on
pre-school children’s school performance is well documented in numerous
studies. Gadsden, (2003) says greater parental involvement at early stage in
children’s learning, positively affects the child’s school performance
including higher academic achievement. He further says that family whose
children are doing well in school exhibit the following characters:
·
Establish
a daily family routine by providing time and a quiet place to study with the
children and assigning responsibility for house hold chores.
·
Monitor
out-of-school activities, for example setting limits on television watching,
reduce time of playing, monitor the groups of friends the pupils walk with.
·
Encourage
children’s development and progress in school; that is maintaining a worm and
supportive home, showing interest in children’s progress at school, helping him
or her with homework, discussing the value of a good education and future
career with children.
There is evidence that poor home
background will affect preschool children academic performance. According to
Grissmer, (2003) cited that parents’ level of education is the most important
factor affecting preschool children academic achievement. He further explains
that parents’ educational background influence the academic achievement of
pupils, this is because the parents would be in a good position to be second
teachers to the child; and even guide and counsel the child on the best way to
perform well in education and provide the necessary materials needed by
him/her. This was supported by Musgrave, (2000) who said that a child that
comes from an educated home would like to follow the steps of his/her family
and by this, work actively in his/her studies. Parents who have more than a
minimum level of education are expected to have a favoured attitude to the
child’s education and to encourage and help him/her with school work. They
provide library facilities to encourage the child to show examples in activities
of intellectual type such as reading of poem, children magazines. They are
likely to have wider vocabulary by which the children can benefit and develop
language fluency.
Moreover, Smith, Fagan and Ulvund (2002) had
asserted that significant predictor of intellectual performance at age of 8
years included parental socio-economic status (SES). In the same vein, other
researchers had posited that parental SES could affect school children as to
bring about flexibility to adjustment to the different school schedules (Guerin
et al., 2001). The same view is shared by Machebe (2012), in her research,
concluded that, parental socio-economic status could influence academic
performance of their children at school. In a previous
local
finding in Nigeria, Oni (2007) and Omoegun (2007) had averred that there is
significant difference betweenthe rates of deviant behaviour among students
from high and low socio-economic statuses.
The health status of the children which could also
be traceable to parental socio-economic background can beanother factor that
can affect the academic performance of the students,Adewale (2002) had reported
that in a rural community where nutritional status is relatively low and health
problems are prevalent, children academicperformance is greatly hindered. This
assertion is again hinged on nature of parental socio-economicbackground.
Moreover, when a child get proper nutrition, health care, stimulation during
pre-school years, the ability to interact with and take optimal advantage of
the full complement ofresources offered by a formal learning environment is
enhanced.
The foregoing discussion had established that
socio-economic status and host of other factors relating to homeenvironment of
students, such as educational background of parents, health status of students,
parentaloccupation and family size could have effects on children academic
achievement.
It is against this background that this work is
being undertaken to empirically investigate the perceived effect of family background
on the academic performance of pre-school pupils in Ikere local government area
EkitiState.
Statement
of the Problem
Societies
all over the world strive to achieve quantitative education for her citizenry.
In order to achieve this noble course, so many factors must be put into
consideration. Among them is the family background of pre-school children. The
family has a great role to play on the overall development of the child and his
educational upbringing in particular. The
gap in performance between pupils and academic excellence constitute a great
source of worry and serious concern as well as discomfiture to parents, schools
mangers, policy makers and various governments responsible for the education of
children’ in preschools.
In light of the above issues, the outstanding and
relevant question is: what is the perceived effect of family background on the
academic performance of preschool pupils?
Purpose
of the Study
The major purpose of this study was to find out the perceived
nfluence of home background on the academic performance of preschool pupils in Ikerelocal
government area of EkitiState. This study is being undertaken with the
following objectives;
·
To find out the effect of parental
financial status on preschool children academic performance in Ikere local
government area of Ekiti State.
·
To examine the influence of parental
occupation on preschool children academic performance in the study area.
·
To examine the level of parental
involvement on preschool children education performance in the study area.
Significance
of the Study
The importance of achieving the objectives of
education programmed among the general populace cannot be over emphasized. A
researcher, Laosa, (2005) had posted as follows:
·
“The educational achievement gap has
deep root, it is evident very early in child’s lives, even before they enter
schools. Socio-economic differences – such as health and nutrition status, home
environments that provide access to academically related experiences, mobility
rates, and financial assets can certainly influence academic achievements”
(Laosa, 2005:5).
·
Practically, the finding of this study
will be useful to the following: the teachers, students, parents, school
guidance counselors, Parents Teachers Association (PTA), educational
administrators and the society at large.
·
This method may yield more positive
result than the traditional system which assumes that all children have similar
family background. The findings of the study will also help teachers to
exercise patience with slow-learners as they vary methods of instruction to
accommodate divergent family background.
·
The findings will be of immense
importance to students. The students will realize that their poor performance
might not necessarily be their fault alone, especially those from low status
families. Such knowledge will go a long way to reduce frustration in the
students and also reduce drop-outs which occur as a result of frustration.
Rather, the students should be made to adjust and help themselves by studying
hard at home and also make proper of the books and materials that are provided
for them at the school library.
·
Through the findings of this study,
parents will realize the importance of improving their educational standard so
as to influence their children’s academic performance. Parents will also understand
the need for them to improve their socioeconomic status so as to be able to
provide the necessary motivation in form of learning materials and other things
which will enhance their children’s learning and their academic performance.
They will equally acknowledge the importance of positive motivations and
encouragement and provide some, by making the family environment more conducive
for their children.
Research
Questions
The study would provide answers to the following
research questions:
·
What are the effects of parental
financial status on preschool children academic performance in Ikere local
government area of Ekiti State?
·
To what extent does parental occupation
influence preschool children academic performance in the study area?
·
Does the level of parental involvement
on preschool children education help their academic performance in the study
area?
Research Hypotheses
The following null hypothetical statements are made
with respect to the objectives of the study:
1.
There is no significant difference between
parentalfinancial status and preschool children academic performance in the
study area.
2.
There is no significant difference
between parental occupation and preschool children academic performance in the
study area.
3.
There is no significant difference
between parental level of education involvement and preschool children academic
performance in the study area.
Scope of Study
This study is delimited to preschool teachers and
parents’ in Ikere local government area ofEkiti State. The context scope of this
study is limited to finding the perceiveseffect offamily background on the academic performance
of preschool pupils with particular regards to parental financial status;
parental occupation, and parental involvement and motivation.
Definition
of Terms
Student academic achievement: This
term refers to the student’s overall average in science, social studies,
English and mathematics expressed as a percent grade.
Parenting style: -
The overall emotional climate of the parent-child relationship – an effective
context of sorts that sets the tone for the parent’s interactions with the
child.
Parental Involvement:
- Any form of verbal or non-verbal communication or assistance in references to
a child’s homework.
Parent:
The term parent are used in this study includes, in addition to a natural
parent a legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis, such as a
grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally
responsible for a child’s welfare
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