Theory
Theory
Theory
de/document/370979
Vygotsky's cognitive development theory (1978) stresses that parents’ play a central role in the process of
making meaning. Vygotsky further states cognitive development stems from social interactions from guided
learning within the zone of proximal development as children and their partners co-construct knowledge. For
Vygotsky, the environment in which children grow up will affect how they think and what they think about
(Roth & Lee, 2007). He also believed that there were certain higher functions developed through the direct
interaction with significant people in a child’s life. The absence of the missing parent to guide, discipline,
direct, model, and teach may be one of the causes that a child from a single parent family may not perform
at their full potential (Rothstein, 2004). To Vygotsky, the development of the mind is the interweaving of
biological development of the human body and the appropriation of the cultural or ideal or material heritage
which exists in the present to coordinate people with each other and the physical world (Bronfenbrenner,
2002).
Also, Vygotsky's concept of cognitive development suggests that the social world defines the way children
think. Vygotsky's (1978) believed that children learn more when their learning is best supported at
opportune times when the caregiver aides them in learning new tasks.
“When children raised in single-parent households are left alone for long periods or left in the hands of
uninvolved caregivers, their academic skills are not being fully supported” (Knox & Virginia, 1996).
Therefore, the researcher has employed Vygotsky's cognitive development theory because it places parents
as partners in their child’s life is crucial as he believed that everything a child learns is through the
interactions with knowledgeable partners, Thus children who experience cooperative and assistive, rather
than punitive styles of parenting, will quickly increase cognitive skills and be motivated to learn. This applies
to practical skills like writing or building things from blocks, as well as the learning of ethical and problem-
solving behavior (Brooks, 2011).
Secondly, as curriculum planners needed to be guided with factors that could assist the curriculum planning
and implementation to be successful. This study would therefore afford planners to consider learners’ family
stability as a primary determinant of academic breakthrough. In addition, the outcome of this study would
not exempt students in the scheme of importance it would benefit them. It would enable students to
understand even though over a long period of time, that crisis is eminent everywhere they find themselves
but should rather allow their conscious to guide their daily conduct and strive to achieve hard work.
Thirdly, the study outcome would help secondary school teachers to acknowledge the importance of
children upraised with both parents as a major pillar for academic success in the academic of any student.
Fourthly, the school counselors would be better equipped with the necessary tool to guide and counsel
students from single parents’ homes. Such would offer them the zeal and courage to forge ahead in life
especially with their studies aimed at discouraging any form of distractions. It would help to become aware
of the need to students from single parents, aspire to improve their educational performance.
Parenting: In this study, parenting means the skills and task responsibilities of raising child/children.
Single Parenting:. In this study single parenting means a mother or father who looks after children on their
own, without the other partner.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a67f/48ce4649188f0ed6ff3864551479abf3934c.pdf
The study was guided by the conflict theory by Karl Marx (1867). The theory argues that
society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources thus
those with power and wealth try to hold on it by any means possible thus suppressing the
poor and powerless. Students of low socioeconomic status are generally not afforded the
same opportunities as students of higher status, no matter how great their academic
ability or desire to learn is (Collins,1975). The children might tend to lag behind in their
of students from single parent family structures that are generally poorer compared to two
studied in research including the key factors, concepts or variables and the presumed
relationship among them (Miles and Huberman,1994). The conceptual framework has
shown the relationship between the independent variables associated with single
Family size
2 Provision of basic needs,
3 paying attention to the
child ‘emotional and
social needs
The information presented in Figure 2:1 seem to suggest that parents’ involvement in
their children’s education, educational level, occupation and family size are likely
to affect academic achievement. This is because single parent families are faced with
challenges such as, decision making as an individual on his or her children which may
be hampered by level of education and financial constraints. All these factors may