Cultural Practices and Education in Ghana: The Effects of Traditional Culture on Parental Involvement in Education

The purpose of this study is to understand parents’ perception of the value of education, and the level of parents’ involvement in their children’s education. The study was guided by preparing and using semi-structured, informal, and focus group interviews as well as documents (written reports, memoranda, meeting notes) that describe parental values of education; reviewing pertinent literature on parent values of education, identifying and summarizing concepts that help explain factors associated with parental support for their children attending school. Participants’ (i.e. community elders, parents, teachers and school administrators) perspectives were examined for the purpose of developing a set of propositions. The study confirmed that norms, values, and beliefs held by a group influences behavior. It revealed that the dominant factor that inhibits parents’ support for their children’s education in the community school was related to traditional culture. In sum, strong cultures may be rigid and thus be a liability when adaptation is essential. Understanding gained from this exploratory study will be relevant to the economically developing nations in Sub-Saharan Africa and even beyond. Keywords: Parental perception, parental involvement, parental support, cultural capital, parental value