The Role of Parents in the Achievement of Turkish-Speaking Students in British Schools： Why They Fail in Supporting Their Children？

In this paper, the role of parents in supporting their children’s progress, as a factor affecting Turkish-speaking children’s achievement, has been explored. It is a fact that Turkish-speaking pupils, when compared with other ethnic groups, such as Bangladeshi and Somali, struggle, underachieve, and still continue performing low in the British education system. The Turkish community has been resident in the United Kingdom (UK) for over 70 years with the current estimated population of 450,000. However, the community is invisible in the society; their diverse needs are not known; and there are limited research and government reports. The relevant data and research findings indicate that there are various factors for the underachievement of the Turkish-speaking pupils. This study shows the degree of importance of parental participation for Turkish-speaking parents in supporting their children’s achievement. As a result, lack of parental involvement is one of the important factors in achievement; and a majority of parents stated that they could not involve in their children’s learning because a number of reasons evaluated in the paper.