Evaluación de los estilos educativos familiares en la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

According to Baumrind, a 20th century clinical and developmental psychologist well known for her research on parenting styles, a distinction can be made between three styles of family education. Based on her work a project was initiated to characterize the educational style of the parents and single mothers of the city of Cuenca, Ecuador, and to unravel and characterize the educational strategies they apply. The study population consisted of 445 randomly selected parents of 6-7 year old children attending the second year of basic education at one of the 19 public and private urban schools. Factor analysisindicatedthat the education styles of the families can be classified in the three educational style classes defined by the classical theory, respectively the authoritarian, the democratic and the permissive. Additionally, results of the cluster analysis revealedthat: (i) the undefined educational style predominates;(ii) parents/mothersalternateeducational strategiesof the threestyles, with a trend towarddemocraticeducational practices;(iii) no dominanteducational style isappliedaccording toBaumrind’stheory; and(iv) ample opportunityexiststo investigate theeducational trendsof parents/mothers. Based onthese findingsthe implementation ofparent education programsis recommended to improvethenurturing and developmentof children.