ERIC Number: EJ1417471
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1523-1615
Available Date: N/A
Teachers' Perspectives of Parents in Rural African Communities
Bukola Oyinloye
Current Issues in Comparative Education, v25 n1 p91-111 2023
Teachers' perspectives of their pupils' parents are a critical element of the relationship between schools, families, and communities. However, in various rural African communities, teachers' views of parents' perspectives and practices around schooling are primarily ones of deficit rather than strength. This paper deepens this literature by offering insight into teachers' perspectives in two rural communities in Nigeria. Using an ethnographic approach and applying concepts from the capability approach, this paper explores teachers' perceptions of parents' values in relation to their children's schooling (parental functionings) and their views of the extent to which parents are able to pursue these functionings. The findings resonate with the existing deficit perspectives in the literature. In addition, the findings expand the literature by revealing an empathetic dimension to these deficit perspectives, suggesting that current evidence around teachers' uniformly deficit perspectives of parents offers only a partial view. Illuminating the empathy that underpins teachers' perspectives offers the possibility of finding common ground between schools and families which may widen opportunities for forging or deepening positive parent-teacher relationships which support children's social, emotional, and academic development.
Descriptors: Teacher Attitudes, Parents, Rural Areas, Foreign Countries, Parenting Skills, Family School Relationship, Social Emotional Learning, Student Development, Elementary School Teachers
Teachers College, Columbia University. International and Transcultural Studies, P.O. Box 211, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. e-mail: info@cicejournal.org; Web site: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/cice
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Nigeria
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A