Reconceptualizing parental involvement: A sociocultural model explaining Chinese immigrant parents’ school-based and home-based involvement

Abstract

Despite growing recognition of diverse forms of parental involvement, scarce research exists on the critical influence of sociocultural contexts on parental involvement in their children’s education. Building on and modifying Hoover-Dempsey’s parental involvement model, this article proposes a new sociocultural model to explain Chinese immigrant parents’ motivations for school-based and home-based involvement. Within the discussion of the model, each component is detailed but the emphasis is directed to three general components: the Chinese cultural model of learning, parental role construction, and school-family relations, including teachers’ parental involvement practices that differ from the U.S. mainstream culture’s model. This review demonstrates that Chinese immigrant parents tend to be more involved in some types of school-based activities (e.g., attending parent-teacher conferences and school events) than others (e.g., volunteering in classrooms and attending PTO meetings/school council). Chinese immigrant parents’ involvement processes also interact with family socioeconomic status and immigrant contexts. The article concludes with implications for research and educational practice.

Acknowledgments

We express our great appreciation to the editors of this special issue and reviewers. Their insightful comments and constructive suggestions helped us revise our model and significantly improve the article.