Date of Award

2011

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Education

Keywords

Education, Bilingual and Multicultural.

Supervisor

Dr. George Zhou (Education)

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

In the past two decades, there has been an increasing number of Chinese immigrants to Canada. Consequently, children of those immigrants are becoming a large component of the school age population. The purpose of this study was to examine the behaviors and perspectives of Chinese immigrant parents getting involved in the education of their elementary school age children in Canada; and to gain a better understanding of how those parents’ behaviors and perspectives of parenting are influenced by their personal experiences and the culture they live with. Based on a sociocultural theory, this qualitative study employed interviews to explore parental practices and perspectives of 12 couples of Chinese immigrant parents in Windsor, Canada. Field notes were used as supplementary source for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that all participants got involved in their children’s educational activities both in and out of school. They maintained their original cultural values and adapted to the host cultural values. Participating parents held high educational expectation of their children and provided assistance with their children’s academic development; they also wanted their children to have a well-rounded development; they respected their children’s interests and provided necessary control. The study also indicated that participating parents had limited involvement in school-based activities. The factors that contributed to the lack of in-school involvement included language barrier, low socio-economic status, and inadequate knowledge about the host culture. The length of stay in Canada was found to be a factor that contributes to immigrants’ acculturation in term of parental involvement.

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