A study of relationships between parents’ and teachers’ demographic factors and their judgments about children’s activities and school readiness in primary schools of Tehran

Abstract

Purpose

The paper describes the relationship between parents’ and teachers’ demographic factors and their judgments about children’s activities and school readiness in primary schools of Tehran. The purpose of this paper is to determine: first, the relationship between the child’s gender and the frequency of parent-child activities; second, the relationship between the parent’s gender, age and educational level and the frequency of parent-child activities; and third, the relationship between the teacher’s gender, educational level and length of service with rate of frequency of the child’s school readiness.

Design/methodology/approach

Multi-stage Cluster Sampling was used to select samples, and the research instruments (questionnaires) were distributed among 36 first grade teachers and 756 parents.

Findings

The study found that there were significant gender differences in hands-on activities. With regards to the parent’s age and gender, there were significant differences only in hands-on activities, while, with respect to the educational level of fathers and mothers, there were significant differences in both hands-on and community activities among children. Finally, the finding indicated that there was a significant relationship between children’s skills and the teacher’s gender and length of service.

Originality/value

Although the research findings are consistent with the reality of Iranian families, more research is needed relating the types of activities in which parents and children engage.

Citation

Kakia, L., Popov, H.N. and Arani, A.M. (2016), "A study of relationships between parents’ and teachers’ demographic factors and their judgments about children’s activities and school readiness in primary schools of Tehran", International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 100-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-10-2015-0006