Parental involvement in mathematics education in Slovenia

Pomembnost staršev za uspeh otrok v izobraževanju pridobiva na veljavi, zato smo z magistrskim delom preverili, kako je z vpletenostjo staršev v matematično izobraževanje pri nas. V teoretičnem delu smo se spoznali s pojmom vpletenosti staršev v izobraževanje, pregledali nekatere raziskave in izpostavili pomembnost vpletenosti v matematično izobraževanje otrok. Predstavljeni so tudi nekateri dejavniki vpletenosti in programi iz tujine. Navedenih je nekaj primerov knjižic, ki služijo kot pomoč staršem za izvajanje aktivnosti, povezanih z matematiko. V empiričnem delu so predstavljeni rezultati raziskave, kako je z vpletenostjo staršev v matematično izobraževanje učencev od 6. do 9. razreda osnovne šole. Preverjala se je tudi povezanost z določenimi dejavniki. Z anketnim vprašalnikom smo pridobili odgovore 245 staršev. Rezultati so pokazali, da se starši v matematično izobraževanje ne vključujejo prav dosti. Ena izmed ugotovitev je bila, da starši, ki so imeli dlje časa matematiko v izobraževanju, manj pomagajo pri šolski matematiki, še posebej pri pripravah na preizkus znanja. Najpogostejši razlog za nevključevanje je neodvisnost otrok pri matematiki, na drugi strani pa starše ovira pomanjkanje časa. Pomembna povezanost se je pokazala med odnosom staršev do matematike in uspehom otrok pri matematiki. Starši z boljšim odnosom do matematike imajo otroke z boljšimi ocenami. Poleg tega so za uspeh otrok pomembna tudi izobrazbena pričakovanja staršev.The importance of parental involvement in their children’s educational success is increasing. This master’s dissertation examines parental involvement in mathematics education in Slovenia. The theoretical part deals with the idea of parental involvement in their children’s education, gives the overview of certain researches, and emphasises the importance of parental involvement in their children’s mathematics education. It also presents some of the involvement factors and foreign involvement programmes. There is a list of selected booklets helping parents carry out mathematics activities. The empirical part presents the results of a research dealing with the extent of parental involvement in the mathematics education of the 6th to the 9th grade primary school students. The link between certain factors was studied as well. The questionnaire was completed by 245 parents. The results show that they are not significantly involved in their children’s mathematics education. One of the findings is that parents, whose education included mathematics for a longer period, spend less time helping their children with school mathematics, especially with preparations for the tests. The most frequent reason for their non-involvement is their children’s independence at mathematicson the other hand, parents blame the lack of time. The results reveal an important link between parents’ attitude towards mathematics and their children’s success in this subject. Children, whose parents have a better attitude towards mathematics, get higher marks. Moreover, children’s success is influenced by their parents’ educational expectations