1.3 Factors and Determinants

The educational practice of the parents results from their tendencies and conceptions in the domain of education. These tendencies and conceptions are themselves influenced by the parents' social and cultural background to the extent that their personalities and intelligence depend on their family history and its social changes (Pourtois 1989). The majority of the relation that have an impact on the child's development, his psychological equilibrium, social adaptation and school performance spring from his social environment and family realities, particularly with regard to "the characteristics of the parents, their social adaptation and educational tendencies" (Pourtois 1979, pp.29-30).

According to the findings of the major Islamic and Western studies on the educational practices of the parents, we may mention four main types of determinants :

1.3.1 Psychological Determinants

The majority of studies (Allès-Jardel 1997, Andrey 1954, Muhammad (undated), Fahmi 1963, Ismaïl 1974) asserts that the main variables influencing the parents' educational practices vis-à-vis their children are : the skills and experiences of the parents, the rhythm of the parent-child relationship, family cohesion, the physical organisation of the child's environment, the psychological tendencies of the parents, their expectations about their offspring's future, their notions and visions about the development of the child and finally the necessary means for the satisfaction of his desires and needs. On the level of the Muslim world, the major indicators, as to the shaping of these practices by these variables and the insuing impact on a child's development and adaptation, are :

a) A father's harsh and rigorous treatment of his child mostly results in the Muslim world from the former's bad experiences in the sense that the father makes his child undergo the same treatment he himself experienced in his childhood (Hassan 1970, Ismaïl 1974).

b) Some negative parental tendencies, such as rejection, overprotection, and the pressure on children to make them attain higher levels of education, "are found more with fathers than with mothers" (Al Korchi 1986, p.15).

c) While older fathers are more prone to overprotection and stressing oppressive values than younger fathers, younger mothers are more prone to stressing oppressive values than older mothers as far as the education of children is concerned. In addition to this, the educational values held by mothers, particularly, are influenced by their age, for it is the younger ones who give too much consideration to more classical values, such as obedience, while the older mothers give more importance to the child's independence and freedom (Al Korchi 1986).

1.3.2 Social Determinants

Actually, the educational practice of the parents, as a conduct with and a treatment of a child, is shaped by their social environment, especially that this practice takes place within the family which is the most significant component of social environment. The role of the family is of paramount importance because it is the primary stage of the child's first experiences and relationships. It has been observed in the majority of studies undertaken in the Muslim world on these determinants that there is an obvious inherent relationship between the components of the family environment (the number of children, their sex, age, family objectives, values, relationships, and the distribution of tasks and duties) and the educational practices of the parents. This inherent relationship is illustrated by the following facts :

a) Despite Western studies' emphasis on the existence of a relationship between the size of the family, its type and the nature of its roles, and the kind of educational practices resorted to by the parents, the majority of Muslim studies which dealt with this relation (Barakat 1977, Alaoui 1986, Guessous 1982) argue that the change of most Muslim families from an extended family to a nuclear one does not always determine the kind of educational practice found with them. "Some families shifted to the nuclear mode only in form and have not known any change in content on the level of rational and democratic thinking. Nevertheless, there are some families which have actually combined both form and content" (Radi 1977, p. 36). It is apparent then that, on the one hand, here is a changing family model of various modes, on the other hand, the size of this model does not necessarily reflect the quality of the treatment therein.

b) The majority of studies (Pourtois 1979, Mahan 1981) asserts the existence of a meaningful and binding link between the number of children within the family and the mothers' belief in resorting to punishment and severe discipline, for the fact of giving birth to many children within a short period is a heavy burden on the young mother, in particular, and leads to her negative attitudes toward children.

c) One of the determining factors of parental education in the Muslim World is the sex of the child which influences the parent-child relationship in an early age. In trying to bring up a child according to the values, customs and conventions of society, the family starts from the point of whether the child is male or female. It assigns, through the parents, the competencies and skills specific to each sex. Therefore, its treatment of children varies according to their sex no matter what social or cultural group they belong to. It is through the means of cultural and social values that the family determines the modes of conduct for the girl which differ from those reserved for the boy in various fields of activity, in accordance with what is prevalent in the social environment and society in general. (Mubarak 1993, p.198)

In most cases the girls are usually subjected to educational practices characterised by coercion, compulsion and prohibition more than the boys, for the parents expect the girls to be more emotional and the boys more practical (Abdelmajid 1984, Hatb, Makki 1988)

1.3.3 Economic Determinants

All the numerous studies on the relationship between the parents' educational practices and the socio-economic level stress the fact that when this level is high, the parents' treatment of their children tends to be flexible and democratic because of the abundance of material things and the existence of the various conditions necessary for the satisfaction of the desires of the latter (Lautrey 1989, Pourtois 1989, Plasio-Quintin 1990, Allès-Jardel 1997). The findings of the Islamic studies (Ismaël and others 1974, Najati 1963, Abdelmajid 1984, Al-Tayib 1990, Al Korchi 1986) which dealt with this relationship agree with this thesis and stress the followings facts :

a) There is a meaningful and binding link between the rise in the living conditions of the parents and the degree of their flexibility and tolerance.

b) The lower social classes are more severe, conservative and compliant with the prevailing social values. This is the reason why the educational practices of the parents belonging to these classes are usually characterised by rigor and severe punishment. The parents abuse their authority in trying to deter the child and severely punish him for the smallest mistakes, the disobedience of the most trivial orders, or a reaction that does not coincide with what is prevalent and customary. More often than not, these parents tend to resort to corporal punishment or threaten to use it.

c) The methods used to control the behaviours of children vary according to the parents' values within each social group. While parents coming from the lower social strata tend to subject their child to the values imposed from the outside (such as hygiene, obedience and the respect of the old), to use corporal punishment and give much importance to the financial consequences of his behaviours; middle class parents tend to valorise a child's inner dynamism, the demands necessary for his development, such as his thirst for education, parental love, cooperation skills and good conduct. The latter parents resort to dialogue, persuasion, guidance and advice in educating their children.

1.3.4 Cultural Determinants

The cultural level in general and the educational one in particular are considered as the most important indicator which determines the parents' knowledge, competencies and behavioural skills, both of which play a major role in shaping their tendencies as far as child-education is concerned. The findings of the majority of foreign and Islamic studies (Pourtois 1979, Mohan 1981, Najati 1974, Al Korchi 1986, At-Tayib 1990) show that the parents educational level is the factor that mostly fashions the parents' educational practices in comparison to the other remaining variables, particularly the profession, revenue, sex and age of the parents, as well as the number of children. This level is considered as the most important factor that influences the parents' attitudes toward their offspring. For when it is high, the parents tend in most cases to be tolerant and flexible in dealing with their children, and when it is low rigor and punishment prevail.