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or parenting is manifesting itself in children who are not socially well adjusted and who leave the private domain of the home and misbehave at school and in public. He further stated that the first strategy to solve this problem is education, so that parents can be introspective about their behaviour and reform achieved. Parents on the other hand have many problems that have prevented them from being involved in school. Some of the barriers to parental involvement are; parents being too busy, frustrated, too tired, having other siblings to care for, economically deprived, disinterested or too burdened by their own problems. However by building a relationship with each parent, teachers may help to eliminate any feelings of frustration, fear or anxiety on the parent’s part.

Another barrier that prevents parents from being involved is their fear of being involved, not fully understanding what they can do and how valuable their contribution is to their children. Parents also feel that they do not have the ability to help their children. Eldridge (2001) confirms this in a statement by parents that they believe that “their assistance is not needed by the schools or teacher” (p.66). In addition, Decker and Decker (2005) opined that some parents may feel helpless about their ability to contribute to their children’s education in any meaningful way. They further stated that this kind of behavior is usually exhibited among parents from the lower socio-economic background, who due to their limited education, experience difficulty in communicating with professionals. However, these researchers believed that being involved in parent’s education programmes at their children’s school, parents could enhance their self image which leads to greater confidence in the “parents as an educator role”, and help other parents who are less capable.

Some practitioners do not help the situation either as they think parents have nothing to contribute. Becher (1984) stated that other factors are the attitude of practitioners who fear that parents will take over their teaching responsibilities and be too critical of them. In addition, practitioners are also uncomfortable talking about issues in front of parents as they do not trust them. Berger disagrees with the above arguments as he affirms that the practitioners must create an environment in which parents are perceived as partners in the educational process and not as adversaries.

Although Wallace (2002) contented that practitioners report a greater understanding of parents, their challenges and their cultural heritage when they are committed to parental involvement, parents sometimes can be difficult to deal with and as a result they put a strain on the parent-teacher relationship. This often become a barrier and hinders the parent-teacher relationship. Evidence of this is seen when they ignore all attempts at communication by not reading letters sent home or answering calls from school. Despite this Riley et al, (2008) recommend that teachers do not give up as it is the challenging parents who most need the teacher’s attention and resources. Therefore, with a better understanding of a family’s situation, teachers are more likely to be more supportive of the parents and less likely to be judgmental of them.

Amato (2000) and Epstein (1995) identified single parents as one of the barriers to parental involvement. This is as a result of singl