Before formal education starts, basic information about life is gained with the help of the parents; therefore it is hard to deny the significant importance of their role in children’s education (Berger, 2008). Even after formal education has started, the importance of parents in this process does not decrease; on the contrary it increases. The research conducted through last three decades show that parental involvement has a significant role on children’s academic achievement as well as their cognitive, social and emotional development (Coleman & McNeese, M.N., 2009). Also these research have emphasized parental involvement as particularly important aspect of school-home relationship, which effects children’s education (Epstein & Dauber, 1991).

Opinions of teachers as one of the main facets of education have significant implications on parental involvement applications, therefore the purpose of this study is to investigate the perspectives of Turkish early childhood educators about parental involvement and their attitudes towards types of parental involvement, which are specified in this study as communication, home support, volunteer work and decision making (Epstein, 2001). These parental involvement types can be described briefly as communication that covers every kind of communication between school and family concerning the child and school-related manners; home support includes all kinds of school-related activities done by parents with their children at home; volunteer work is the sum of participation of parents in school activities voluntarily; and decision making is involving parents in decision-making process of school-related subjects.

Furthermore, this research aims to find answers why specific types of parental involvement are not used efficiently if there is any. Mattingly, Prislin, McKenzie, Rodriguez and Kayzar (2002) claim that the quality relationship between families and schools has great importance in the last three decades, and parental involvement plays a particularly significant role in the family-school relationship and influences children’s education. As Mattingly et al. state, parental involvement has a positive influence on children’s academic success; as well empowering the parents (as cited in Akkök, 1999).  Since parental involvement is such an important component of education, it is worth investigating the thoughts of teachers, who can be considered as the main source of formal education, about involving parents in the curriculum.

Although it seems like parental involvement is more likely to be the duty of an educational institution, specifically of teachers, in fact, national educational policy plays a major role in this process. According to Akkök (1999) in the Turkish education system, the importance of parental involvement has recently been recognized, which means parental involvement has only about 20 years of history in the Turkish education system which can also be thought of as a new concept for education due to age of the country.  With the results of this study, a new window would open to take a deeper look at parental involvement approaches in Turkish education system since it seems to be fairly basic research in the area to understand the dynamics of general opinions of Turkish early childhood educators on parental involvement and their usage of its types.

Akkök, F. (1999). Parental involvement in the educational system: To empower parents to become more knowledgeable and effective. Paper presented at the Central Asia Regional Literacy Forum (İstanbul, June 22-25). Berger E. H. (2008). Parents as partners in education: Families and schools working together (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Merrill/Pretince Hall. Coleman, B., & McNeese, M.N. (2009). From home to school: The relationship among parental involvement, student motivation, and academic achievement. The International Journal of Learning, 16(7), 459-470. Epstein, J.L. (2001). School, family and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools. Boulder, CO; Westview. Epstein, J.L., & Dauber, S.L. (1991). School programs and teacher practices of parent involvement in inner-city elementary and middle schools. The Elementary School Journal, 91, 289-305. Mattingly, J. D., Prislin, R., McKenzie, T. L., Rodriguez, J.L. & Kayzar, B. (2002). Evaluating evaluations: The case of parent involvement programs. Review of Educational Research, 72, 549-576.