Parental Involvement and Students’ Cognitive Outcomes in Korea

Abstract

Studies of parental involvement and children’s education in a variety of contexts can provide valuable insights into how the relationships between parental involvement and student outcomes depend upon specific local contexts of family and education. Korean education is distinctive with its high prevalence of private tutoring, which not only imposes an economic burden on parents but also requires parents’ time and efforts to select the best kind of private tutoring for their children and to keep track of their academic progress by interacting with private tutors. Here, data from a longitudinal survey in Korea that has traced 7th-graders for two years were used to investigate the determinants and the effects of parents’ private tutoring–related activities in comparison to other types of home-based and school-based parental involvement. Multivariate analysis shows that parents’ efforts in selecting and monitoring private tutoring are significantly associated with increased math and English test scores. Features of Korean education in which private tutoring becomes an important strategy for parents to enhance children’s education are described, and the broader implications of the findings, beyond the local context, are discussed.

Influences of monetary and non-monetary family resources on children's development in verbal ability in China

“…For example, Hannum's work showed that household income exerts a net net on children's school enrollment probabilities and education attainment in China (Hannum 2003). In addition, parents in Korea tend to spend their income on extracurricular education services, such as private tutoring, which prepares the children better academically (Park,Byun, and Kim 2011).…”

“…East Asian societies differ substantially from U.S. society both culturally and institutionally. Extending research to East Asian societies will thus yield clues about whether the observed relationship between family's characteristics and children's achievement is generalizable to wider social contexts (Park 2008;Park and Kim 2011). High scholastic and professional achievement in East Asian countries and among East Asian descendants in the U.S.…”

Parents’ engagement in the education of lower secondary school students with and without special educational needs – which strategies bring expected results?

“…In developing extrinsic motivation towards school learning, the formal role of achievements is emphasised and comparisons to the peer group are used in the process of motivating children to learn. Research conducted so far shows that the practices promoting child development undertaken by (Park, Byun and Kim, 2011). This issue has not been empirically resolved to date.…”

Lessons from abroad: whatever happened to pedagogy?

“…For South Korea, Shin (2013) identifies the importance of high levels of achievement motivation, fuelled both by the Confucian value placed upon scholarship and more instrumental career concerns, the proportion of time spent studying each week, and parental expectations and involvement. This latter factor has been emphasised as contributing towards a high degree of "educational zeal" (Sorensen, 1994, p.21) with parents spending considerable time selecting and monitoring private tutoring for their children (Bray, 2010;Park, Byun, & Kim, 2011). As Sorenson points out, the academic success of South Korean students is less a matter of curriculum, pedagogy or structural factors such as class size than the result of how education is embedded within the fabric of Korean society.…”