Parent-teacher engagement during child-centered pedagogical change in elementary school: The lived experiences of teachers and involved parents

iv DEDICATION . vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . vii LIST OF TABLES . xv CHAPTER I: THE PROBLEM . 1 Historical Background of the Problem . 2 Pennsylvania Public Education . 4 A Pennsylvania Urban Elementary School . 6 The Influence of Multicultural Factors . 8 Problems Specific to the School . 10 Parental Involvement . 16 Parental Influence on Student Achievement . 19 Statement of the Problem . 21 The Purpose of this Study . 22 Significance of the Study . 24 Theoretical Framework . 27 Existential Phenomenology . 27 The Bio-Ecological Model of Human Development . 30 Schools’ Pedagogical Changes . 32 x Pedagogy of the Oppressed . 34 Research Questions . 38 Guiding Questions . 38 Subsidiary Research Questions . 38 Protocol Interview Questions . 39 Definition of Terms . 39 Organization of the Dissertation . 41 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW . 42 Introduction . 42 Relationships between Home and Public Education System . 42 Historical Overview of the Public Education System . 44 Urban Elementary Schools . 47 Problems Associated with Children’s Risk . 51 Poverty and its Effect on People . 52 Parent as Change Agent . 54 Relationships/Attachment/Empathy/Self-Efficacy . 56 Parent School Involvement . 59 Challenges to Parental School Involvement . 64 Teachers’ Perceptions of Parents’ Role in Parental School Involvement 66 Empathic Understanding in Parent-School Involvement . 66 Parents’ Sense of Self-efficacy . 70 Parenting Style . 72 Teacher and Student Relationships . 73 xi Teachers as Change Agents in Student Academic Achievement . 73 Teaching Style . 75 Stress and Individual Functioning . 76 Multicultural Influences . 78 Theoretical Framework . 80 The Bio-Ecological Model of Human Development . 81 Pedagogy of the Oppressed . 83 Phenomenology . 88 Existential-Phenomenology. 92 Summary . 96 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY . 98 Purpose of the Study . 103 Rationale . 106 Phenomenology . 108 Research Design . 109 Participants . 110 Purposeful Sampling . 111 Sample Size . 111 Instrumentation . 113 Researcher as Instrument. 114 Data Collection . 117 Focus Groups . 117 Key Informant Interviews . 119 xii Participant Observational Data . 120 Reflective Journal . 121 Instrument . 121 Interview Questions . 121 Parent Interview Questions . 121 Teacher Interview Questions . 122 Semi-structured Interview Format. 123 Data Analysis . 123 Verification: Validity and Credibility of the Study . 126 Procedures . 129 Ethical Considerations . 131 Informed Consent . 132 Privacy, Anonymity, and Confidentiality. 132 Limitations of the Study . 133 CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS . 135 Participant Demographics . 136 Bracketing my Own Presuppositions . 138 Data Analysis . 140 Teachers’ Focus Group Interview . 142 Teacher Key Informant Interviews. 159 Parent Focus Group Interview . 182 Parent Key Informant Interviews . 199 Summary of Interviews . 214 xiii Identifying Themes . 214 A Comparative Summary of the Findings . 218 Four Lived Existentials . 219 Risk Factors Perceived by Parents and Teachers . 224 Protective Factors Identified by Teachers and Parents . 229 Perceptions of the Parents’ Roles . 231 Emergent Themes . 231