The Investigation of Parents' Interactions and Their Children's Learning Levels at Parental Coaching Carried out over Social Network

Abstract

The study aims to provide academic and affective support for children's learning by using teacher-parent collaboration through parental coaching realized via social network. This parental coaching includes three phases: preparation, implementation and evaluation. The participants of the study are 16 parents and their children. The data of the study was obtained through the following data collection tools: family information form, focus group interview, semi-structured interviews conducted with parents and children, social network group logs, questionnaire and academic achievement scores of children. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze qualitative data and Wilcoxon t test for quantitative data. The issues which the parents ask for support are guidance for supporting their children in the courses they have problems with and help children to develop reading and study habits. The findings of the study show that parental coaching via social network increases teacher-parent, parent-parent and parent-child interaction as well as children's academic achievement. The highest amount of interaction in this application was between parents and the guidance counsellor (the researcher) and the children. The lowest level of interaction was among parents. Finally, it can be concluded that parental coaching application helped parents to support their children's learning and feel well-equipped while guiding them.