THE STAGNATION OF PI PRACTICE (PTA) IN SECONDARY EDUCATION OF MACAU— —A COMPARATIVE STUDY BASED ON THE EPSTEIN’S SIX TYPES OF PI FRAMEWORK

In Macau, various issues have been encountered and topics on education. In
addition to the accelerating number of students having emotional related issues,
parents and schools also face challenges from different perspectives in education
during the education system transformation (Choi, 2005), which greatly hinders the
execution of parental involvement (PI). This research explores the historical role of PI
in the educational process, showing that parental participation has a greater impact on
student learning outcomes (Liu, A., Xie, Y., 2015) than factors including intellectual
aptitude or socioeconomic status (SES). To investigate whether there is stagnation of
PI in Macao, the research will conduct interviews with secondary school teachers to
find out the level of understanding of parents and teachers towards PI, the actual
practice and impact of PTA policy, and the difficulties that might hinder PTA practices.
Adopting a triangulation method, the paper will further compare teachers’ interviews
results to literature review of PI practices in different countries based on the Epstein’s
framework (Epstein, J. L., 2001). Finally, as the study explores the implementation of
PTA policies in secondary schools in Macao, it also provides recommendations for the
further optimization of Macao’s education system. The research findings show that
PTA policy in Macao education should evolve from its current superficial interaction to
deeper cooperation, creating a more comprehensive learning environment for students, fostering their holistic development in the context of rapid changes.