Strengthening Parents' Participation Through Project TAWAG

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

`Parents' participation in the school refers to their involvement in the school's programs and projects. Their participation can take many forms. Some parents are attending for the sake of attendance. Then, some parents give their support in the grade where their children are enrolled. Moreover, their parents who assume greater responsibilities by giving their full support to the school asa PTA officer.It is important for parents to know that the school is considered cooperative which is operated by the teachers and the parents who work for it. They are the most important elements that carry out duties to attain the objectives of the school and they share equally the school benefits and profits.It is important to know also that the school is a "worker cooperative wherein the shares and control of the corporation depend on its workers. Parents' active participation can lead to greater motivation for staff." Teachers who are involved in the school program improve their teaching methods while parents who participate develop positive attitudes towards the school.In the previous years, school records showed low participation of parents in the parent-teacher conferences. Parents were not interested and motivated to attend for different reasons. Hence the researcher became interested to conduct action research to strengthen the link between the parents and school through Project TAWAG-Tapping the Availability of Workers at a Given Task.

METHODS

Different methods were used. These include the use of questionnaires as the main tool to gather the necessary data to attain the objectives of the study. The researcher conducted an interview through random sampling method to 45 parents to determine their perception towards the school.

RESULTS

Parents' answers to the given questionnaires and responses to the interviews being conducted gave the following findings: 1) parents have different perception towards school, 2) the head of the school and the teachers are primarily responsible for parent's participation in the school, 3) parents should be informed of the reasons for attending and participating in the school programs, 4) parents have different preferences o how to get involved in the school project-Project TAWAG.

DISCUSSIONS

The results of the study indicate the need to strengthen parents' involvement in the school for them to become participative. Continuous and consistent implementationof Project TAWAG was a reliable means of linking with parents.