The Impact of Socio-Economic Status on Parental Involvement in Turkish Primary Schools: Perspective of Teachers

Abstract

This exploratory qualitative study investigates the effects of socio-economic status on parental involvement in public primary schools in Turkey. The study aims to examine how teachers in these schools present the scope of current parental involvement, to what factors teachers ascribe the barriers to parental involvement, and whether teachers‘ responses are differentiated according to the socio-economic status of the surrounding community. The data for this study were collected through in-depth interviews with ten teachers working in two primary schools in Istanbul. One school is located in an affluent and relatively homogenous community, while the other one is in an area that includes a predominantly poor and culturally diverse population. The results of the study indicate that although teachers in the affluent school are more satisfied with the quality and quantity of parents‘ involvement, teachers in both schools believe that parents who do not collaborate with schools do not value education. Moreover, even though all teachers agreed that socio-economic status is a significant determinant of involvement, teachers in the community with high poverty stated that cultural differences also play an important role in explaining lack of parental involvement