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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 2
Publication Date: February 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/assrj.92.10704. Hoguane, I., & Pinto, A. O. (2022) Educational Process in Mozambique and Parental Involvement. Advances in Social Sciences
Research Journal, 9(2). 286-297.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Educational Process in Mozambique and Parental Involvement
Isabel Hoguane
Master in Educational Psychology from the Pedagogical University
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education
Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique
Anselmo Orlando Pinto
PhD in Theology from the Pontifical Urbanian
University - Roma (Italy) and a Degree in Philosophy from the
University of Saint Thomas of Mozambique
Research and Publications Department at University of
Saint Thomas of Mozambique
ABSTRACT
This article reflects on parental involvement in the school life of children in
Mozambique. With this theme, it is intended to understand the level of parental
participation in their children's school life. Methodologically, the study is of a
qualitative nature, based on the review of the existing literature on the subject. In
addition to the introduction and conclusion, this study is divided into six points,
namely: 1) the pedagogical problem - which speaks of education as a fundamental
requirement of the human person; 2) parental involvement - conceptual
perspective; 3) forms of parental involvement - which can occur at school and at
home directly and indirectly; 4) obstacles to parental involvement - the level of
education, social class, time, the relationship between school and family, the
economic level, the type of family, are some of the obstacles mentioned; 5) impact
of parental involvement on learning - parental involvement influences children's
success on three levels: cognitive, emotional and behavioral; and 6) Parental
participation in school life in Mozambique - governments from various countries
promote an active and democratic participation of society in the management of
schools, based on the principle that the school is a heritage of the community. The
results of this study indicate that the contribution of parents to their children's
learning at home is still insignificant. Therefore, it is suggested that actions be
promoted for greater and better involvement of parents in student learning; the
implementation, for example, of parental involvement programs in order to
provide parents with the necessary knowledge and strategies for this process.
Keywords: Involvement. Parents. School. Success.
INTRODUCTION
Education is an always current topic that is discussed in its political and social character
throughout history, this is justified due to its importance for the development of human
communities. This is how the concept of “paideia” emerged in ancient Greece. Paideia (παιδεία,
παίδοσ, child), a Greek word that synthesizes the notion of education and means “creation of
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Hoguane, I., & Pinto, A. O. (2022) Educational Process in Mozambique and Parental Involvement. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,
9(2). 286-297.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.92.10704
boys”, that is, education of boys. Paideia, therefore, means, on the one hand, the educational
process and, on the other, education itself (Gameiro, Saisse & Poncio, 2017).
The concept that in an original way expresses the ideal of Greek social formation, is contained
in the term, αρετέ-areté (in Greek excellence, virtue). For Gameiro, Saisse & Poncio (2017),
areté and paideia are intrinsically correlated terms and mean the excellence of knowledge in its
integral spectrum that unites the mind, body and heart.
An accomplished American philosopher and educator - John Dewey - developed an educational
theory, known as new pedagogy based on the Greek educational conceptions of the classical
period centered on the figure of the child. To contextualize Dewey's starting point for the
development of a new educational theory, take as a basis the pedagogical vision shared by Jean- Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant, for whom education can be classified into two distinct
phases: physical education and moral education. They are deeply linked and dependent on each
other. The first stage refers to the initial phase of schooling, where the responsible involvement
of parents is extremely important for the integral development of the individual. Dalbosco
(2011) cited by Armando & Samuel (2014, pp187-203) says that for Kant, the human being who
during childhood managed to strengthen his body and refine his senses is in a better position
to develop his intelligence and to morally form the character".
The two concepts - paideia and areté - that refer to the complex reality of education that
emerges from the Greek worldview, as well as the philosophical thought of John Dewey, offer
some elements of reflection on educational processes in Mozambique, particularly from the
perspective of parental involvement.
In recent years, the quality of learning in Mozambique has declined, resulting in high numbers
of failures at all levels of general education, namely primary and secondary (MINEDH, 2015).
Specifically, the biggest problem is the lack of mastery of reading and writing in the initial
classes of the primary level, which makes learning in the following classes more difficult. This
scenario of low quality of apprenticeship is not exclusive to the Mozambican educational
system, but also in other African countries and other continents, UNESCO (2015).
According to Szymanski (2003), teachers hold the family responsible for school failure, due to
their absence and lack of interest in their children's learning. In the same perspective of
analysis, some educators and theorists of sociology refer that the current family does not fulfill
its educational task, which is the basis for school learning and entrusts the school (Fevorini &
Lomônaco, 2009). However, Enguita (2004), states that it cannot be generalized that parents
do not participate in their children's learning, as real data indicate that some, even on a smaller
scale, accompany students in their school journey. The need to make the largest number of
parents aware of the importance of their contribution to their children's learning justifies
carrying out this research, since several studies consider that the support of parents in their
children's learning is the basis for school success, reducing the problems of behaviour and less
abandonment (Castro et al., 2015; Dotterer & Wehrspann, 2016; Hill & Tyson, 2009; El Nokali,
Bachman, & Votruba-Drzal, 2010; Jeynes, 2003; Nhanthumbo, Vallejo & Nhanthumbo, 2018;
Wilder, 2014). In addition, it is interesting to reflect on the contribution of parents in their
children's learning because, according to Campira & Araújo (2012), it is assumed that the
reduced time spent by students in school is compensated by the learning acquired at home with
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 2, February-2022
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
the support of parents. Thus, the research seeks to answer the following question: how are
parents contributing to their children's learning success?
THE PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEM
The formation or education of the person is a fact that has never ceased to exist. It is a
fundamental requirement of man who is born with a limited capacity to act, but without
practical ability; he must learn from others to exercise his abilities through the educational
process.
The educational question is interwoven with that of the person / personality insofar as the
person appears to be the starting point, whereas personality is a point of arrival for all integral
and integrated training. For Pizzi (2006), if, on the one hand, for personalism, the person cannot
constitute a result, mainly because it is a principle, on the other hand, the transformation of the
person into personality is a possible project through the formation and exercise of the
intellectual capacities of the original structure through spatial and temporal factors and
conditioning. It is in view of integral and integrated training that the family and the school are
called to act collaboratively.
The elements that characterize the educational phenomenon reveal, first, the non-existence of
an education of the abstract, which in fact exists, is a personal story, it is an individual process
of transforming the individual into a person, resulting from intrinsic motivations and the direct
action of others. The educational act, therefore, must be all the exogenous or endogenous influx
that conditions, potentiates or inhibits, individual development.
According to Boavida & Amado (2008), education is a process of appropriation, by the student,
of the culture in which he is inserted - the student is appropriating objects, practices, ideas,
values, sensibilities and interpretations that he integrates in social, psycho-affective and
rational structures and schemes, configuring their subjectivity through successive acquisitions.
In the educational field, the individual-society-culture dialectic is a permanent fact, which gives
both dignity and emphasis to the individual journey as well as the collective history. People
grow physically and emotionally within these complex realities in which all elements are
articulated and gaining meaning (Ivi).
The integral permission, which evokes that which is complete, whole, total and finished in itself,
having its meaning added to education, evokes an idea that cannot be summed up in the work
done in schools, and does not end with the period that comprehends the official education,
therefore, goes further, in the search for expansion of times, spaces, subjects and situations of
education. De Sousa (2016) considers that for many centuries several philosophical currents
have dealt with the issue of education thinking it as a possibility of human formation, which
encompasses multiple faculties of the individual.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT - CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVE
To avoid ambiguity in the perception of this reflection, it is important to clarify the meaning of
parental involvement in the children's learning. Being a complex phenomenon, parental
involvement is defined by several authors in a significantly different way, although there are no
major differences.
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Hoguane, I., & Pinto, A. O. (2022) Educational Process in Mozambique and Parental Involvement. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,
9(2). 286-297.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.92.10704
Castro et al. (2015) consider that parental involvement is the “active participation of parents in
all aspects of their children's social, emotional and academic development” (p.34). Thus,
parental involvement concerns several issues, such as parents' expectations about their
children's academic future, control over homework, the frequency of their presence at school,
among other aspects.
Oostdam and Hooge (2013) define parental involvement as being “the active and direct support
in the children's learning” (p.339). In the same line of research, Jeynes (2007) considers that
parental involvement is “the participation of parents in their children's educational processes
and experiences” (p.83). Parental involvement also refers to “parents' behaviour at home and
in school settings designed to support their children in educational progress” (El Nokali, et al.,
2010, p. 989).
Based on the aforementioned definitions, it is clear that parental involvement is a broad
concept that encompasses many aspects, which include attitudes, behaviours, supervision of
school tasks, parents' expectations regarding their children's learning, between others.
According to Bempechat and Shernoff (2012), involvement is a meta-construct composed of
three related dimensions, namely cognitive involvement, behavioural involvement, and
emotional involvement. In this way, it can be considered that parental involvement is all the
help that parents provide their children during school.
In fact, parents understand that their children's future depends on their involvement in
education (Ule, 2015). Therefore, they tend to support their children in learning in order to
acquire a higher academic level that guarantees a decent job and a better socioeconomic status
(Dotterer & Wehrspann, 2015). Nevertheless, Epstein (1995) and Hasnat (2016) point out that
parents would like their children to be successful in learning, but some do not know how to
support them. In fact, the mode (i.e., the quality of the parents' practices or actions) and the
frequency of parental involvement is proportional to the effects it has on their children's
learning (Cheung & Pomerantz, 2012). In this sense, the role of parents, of educators and
caregivers should continue throughout their children's education (LaRocque, Kleiman &
Darling, 2011), in a qualitative and quantitative way to guarantee the success of learning at all
levels. Thus, the ideal would be for parents of students with low income to become more
involved to help them overcome difficulties and encourage greater academic performance
(Castro et al., 2015).
Forms of parental involvement
According to Pomerantz, Moorman & Litwack (2007), parental involvement can occur at school
and at home directly (direct interaction with the child) and indirectly (actions that do not
include the child's participation, but which aim to your well-being). At school, parents get
involved by participating in meetings, at school events, communicating with teachers,
volunteering to carry out some school activities, that is, activities of direct contact with the
school (Pomerantz et al., 2007).
At home, parents develop school-related practices, such as helping with homework, creating a
conducive environment for the child to study, supervising / monitoring the child's activities,
helping in choosing the course, talking about the school, limit the time to watch television,
support the child in the organization of their time, among others, however not being limited to