The Influence of Family Background on the Academic Achievement of Secondary Schools Students in the Limbe Municipality
Department: Educational Psychology
No of Pages: 61
Project Code: EPY6
References: Yes
Cost: 5,000XAF
Cameroonian
ABSTRACT
This
study attempted to explain some of the influences of student’s family
background on the behaviour of students in secondary schools in Buea
Municipality. Family background has been highlighted as of great important in
molding the performance and behaviour of children in schools worldwide. This
study therefore investigated the relationship between family backgrounds on
student academic achievement in secondary schools in Buea Municipality.
This
study focused on the influences of parental level of education, parental
involvement parental values and how they all affect the academic achievement of
secondary schools’ students in Limbe Municipality. The study employed a
descriptive survey research design and employed a convenient random sampling
techniques to sample respondents.
The
study used a sample of 120 students drawn from three schools (G.H.S Limbe,
G.B.H.S Limbe and KULU Memorial College), selected by a random sampling method.
Data was collected by use of structured-questionnaire for students. The data was
Data was analyzed by means of tables and simple percentages and hypothesis were
tested using a Spearman's rho correlation.
Findings revealed that reveals that family background affects student academic achievement. It was also, revealed that parental level of education, parental involvement and parental values have a significant effect on the academic achievement of secondary schools’ students in Limbe Municipality.
It was
concluded that parental level of education, parental involvement and parental values
play a significant effect on the academic achievement of secondary schools in
Limbe Municipality.
It
was suggested that the government should ensure that all schools in rural and
urban areas have libraries where students from poor family backgrounds may go
to seek and acquire knowledge to develop a positive attitude towards schooling
and to succeed in school.
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Generally,
the school has become an indispensable agent of the transmission of knowledge
and skills around the world. This chapter seeks to explain the background of
the study, identify and give a statement of the problem(s) encountered.
It
equally deals with the purpose and significance of the study, clearly stating
its specific objectives with some specific general research questions inclusive.
The chapter further brings out the operational definition of some key terms as
used in the research such as; family background, income, educational level of
parents, influence, and parental values. Finally, concludes with a summary of
the chapter.
Background of the Study
Historical
Background
The
family is probably the most ancient group in the human experience extending
back to thousands of years before the dawn of history. The family testifies to
the survival capacity of groups, which perform important functions for their
members and the society at large. The family is vital to the individual; most
of us have a long connection with kinship groups than any other kin.
The
family is indispensable to society as well as to the individual. The biological
survival of any society is entrusted to it. Procreation, of course, occurs
outside the family and sometimes does, but most children in all societies are
born into families.
There
are other socializing agents, but across the world, the crucial and
indispensable ones are within the family. The family is not only vital in each
generation, but it also perpetuates itself into the future.
According
to Heasman, the family consists of that group of kinfolks who are in continuous
interaction or contact with one another. This means that they live together
under one roof. Zeldith (1964:681) said a family is a social group in which
sexual access is permitted between certain adult members.
Reproduction
legitimately occurs, the group is responsible to society for the care and
upbringing of children, and a group is an economic unit at least in
consumption. Williams (1985) said the family is the basic and universal
institution. This means that the survival of any society is determined by the
family, for it is the family that is responsible for procreation and
child-rearing.
The
family, being the first socializing agent has a kind of lasting effect on the
children. Perhaps the most important function of the family is to socialize
children with the values necessary for an effective citizen. From cradle to
grave the family leaves its impact on the social experience of the individual.
There
are different kinds of family backgrounds, we have monogamous families,
polygamous families, broken families, and here the father and mother are
staying apart. This study will show how each of these affects the children in
the family. Family background plays an important role in the education of
children.
Middle-class
students benefit from having fewer siblings than typical working-class families.
If children develop vital and cognitive skills through interaction with
parents, those from small families will spend more time with parents than with
peers and siblings, in comparison to children from large families.
For
this reason, regardless of ability, students from the higher social strata
compared to other students, do better in school, stay there longer and are
ultimately prepared to move into higher status occupations.
Conceptual
Background
Many
researchers and scientists agree that success at schools is associated with
social background factors (Giddens), 1997) as these factors affect your
children’s cognitive skills. Disadvantaged children (children with poor social
backgrounds) start school with significantly lower cognitive skills than their
more advantaged peers.
Experience
has shown that among the secondary school students there exist some differences
which influence students’ academic performance, such as some students being
able to pay their school fees promptly, while others were often sent away for
nonpayment of school fees, some students have problems with the provision of
school uniform but others were not.
Likewise,
some students were motivated by their parents through the provision of
educational materials like textbooks and exercise books, others were not.
Whereas some students come to school properly feed, others were not.
One
then wonders whether the influence of family background had played a role in
these issues. Educational upbringing is not unconnected with the family
influence of a child. Individual members of the family serve as a model to the
child as he/ she copies from each of them. Eyake (1997) quoted.
Adeyeme
(1977) if the house fails to provide the child with the necessary equipment’s
to fit him/ her into his proper place in the society and guided properly for
his/ her future career, then the child is damaged. An analysis of the
percentage of secondary school dropouts today entails that such students are
usually from broken homes, wiring polygamous families or with other socially
related problems.
The
agrarian and large families have accounted for the polygamous life of people.
The large the size of the family, the more economic and other social
responsibilities the parents bring upon themselves. And more often than not,
the educational performance of students from such families suffers serious
setbacks. This is because such parents might not be able to afford the cost of
funding education for their children.
Other
factors may affect the education performance of students like separation on
grounds of different working stations, divorce or even natural death can bring
adverse effects on the growth and development of a child.
Furthermore,
the economic position of parents is one of the major factors that can influence
greatly the educational upbringing of a child. In most families, either or none
of the parents may be earning an income sufficient enough to sustain the
family, faced with malnutrition and other emotional and psychological effects,
the mental development of the child would be greatly retarded.
Alternatively,
hunger (1990) adds that a low-income family with plenty of feeding problems may
produce children whose physical and mental development poses real challenges to
the school’s effort at optimum development of the child.
Contextual
Background
In
Limbe Municipality and Fako-Division, it is well known that students’
educational outcomes vary sharply with their family background. Differences in
academic performance with students’ family background emerge early at the
preschool level and are reinforced in childhood and the teenage years through
tertiary education.
There
are some schools in Limbe Municipality where the majority of students in these
schools are children whose parents are of the lower and middle class. Their
parents are educated and ensure that their children get extra classes at home
and during holidays because they believe their children do not have enough from
these schools.
Due
to the low socio-economic status of some parents, they can barely afford the
basic requirements of their children. When a child is deprived of these
essential needs, he/she can hardly perform well in school.
Theoretical
Background
The
study made use of three (03) major theories, that is Charles Cooley theory of
Socialization (1929), Maslow’s Motivational Theory (1970) and the Karl Marx
Conflict theory (1818). Charles Cooley developed socialization theory in 1929
and it refers to the parenting practices that influence children’s development.
Socialization
is a lifelong process that involves inheriting and disseminating norms, customs
and ideologies hence providing an individual with the skills and habits that
are necessary for participating within one’s society. Socialization, therefore,
is the means through which individuals acquire skills that are necessary to
perform as functional members of their societies and is the most influential
learning process.
The
theory is vital to this study as it added to the knowledge of socialization
theory by relating the influence that family background has on only one aspect
of a child’s life, which is academic achievement. Further, it tested to find
out whether this model is applicable in a developing country scenario, which is
Cameroon and specifically Limbe Municipality.
Maslow’s
Motivational Theory is also relevant to this study. According to Maslow,
motivation is constant and never-ending, fluctuating and complex. He asserted
that man always has needs to satisfy. These needs, according to him are
arranged in a hierarchical order starting from the basic or lower-order needs
to higher-order needs.
The
hierarchy is categorized into two, namely Deficit needs (physiological, safety,
belonging, and self-esteem) and growth needs (self-actualization). Maslow
explained that once a particular need is satisfied, it ceases to be a motivator
of behavior and another need emerges. The theory relates to this study because
motivation is very important in learning. It is necessary at home and in
school.
Karl
Marx’s Conflict theory was also vital for the study. The conflict theory sees
the purpose of education as maintaining social inequality and preserving the
power of those who dominate society. Conflict theorists agree that the
educational system practices sorting, and argue that schools sort along
distinct class and ethnic lines.
According
to conflict theorists, schools train those in the working classes to accept
their position as lower-class members of society. Conflict theorists call this
role of education the “hidden curriculum.” According to the theory, children
from the low socio-economic status will be given equal treatment as lower class
kids in school and society compared with those from high socio-economic status.
The theory points out that while private schools are expensive and generally reserved for the upper classes, public schools, especially those that serve the poor, are underfunded, understaffed, and growing worse.
Statement of the Problem
Societies all over the world strive to achieve quantitative education for their citizenry. To achieve this noble course, so many factors must be put into consideration. Among them is the family background of the child. The family has a great role to play in the overall development of the child and his educational upbringing in particular.
The
gap in performance between students and academic excellence constitute a great
source of worry and serious concern as well as discomfiture to both parents,
schools’ managers, policymakers and various governments responsible for the
education of students in secondary school schools.
Experience
has shown that among the secondary school students there exist some differences
which influence students’ academic performance, such as some students being
able to pay their school fees promptly, while others were often sent away for
nonpayment of school fees, some students have problems with the provision of
school uniform but others do not.
Likewise,
some students were motivated by their parents through the provision of
educational materials like textbooks and exercise books, others were not,
whereas some students’ come to school properly feed, others did not. One then
wonders whether the influence of family background had played an in these
issues.
Parents’
involvement is highly related to their children’s succeed in education.
Students whose parents are more involved with their schooling are more likely
to be motivated and have good achievements in school.
Parents’
attitudes towards the education of their children are such as frequency of
helping with homework, frequency of supervision of children’s homework; times
spent interacting with children, frequency of praising with children and
providing enough stationery. Parents who have high educational expectations
also tend to motivate their children in their academic achievement.
They
take good care of their children either both in or out of school (reward or punishment
due to the children’s behaviour). Pandey (1985) concluded that if a proper
system of reward and punishment is followed, children shall certainly perform
well in school.
In
light of this, the main problem of this search is to find out if exists in
Limbe Municipality a relationship between family background and the student’s
academic performance.
Objectives of the Study
Main Objective
The
main objective of the study is to investigate the influence of family
background on the academic achievement of secondary school students in the
Limbe Municipality.
Specific
Objectives
- Examine the influence of parental level of education on the academic achievement of secondary school students in Limbe Municipality.
- Examine the influence of parental involvement on the academic achievement of secondary school students in Limbe Municipality.
- Examine the influence of parental values on the academic achievement of secondary school students in Limbe Municipality.
