Parental belief and parental engagement: how do they interact?

Abstract

Previous literature has shown the importance of parental engagement for children’s outcomes; a largely separate body of literature has shown that there are clear effects on children’s outcomes related to parental religion. This article is a literature review of these two fields, with the aim of relating them to each other. The article suggests two possible explanations, behavioural and economic, for the differences in outcomes related to differences in parental engagement arising from differences in religion, but incorporating knowledge from the field of parental engagement. Finally, it sets out a research agenda for the future.

Keywords:

• parental engagement
• religion
• faith
• achievement

Notes

1. An ‘A’ average is 4.0; a B is 3.0, etc.