مؤسسة الشرق الأوسط للنشر العلمي
عادةً ما يتم الرد في غضون خمس دقائق
In the contemporary digital era, school–family communication has increasingly shifted toward technology-mediated platforms, with WhatsApp emerging as one of the most widely used tools in educational settings. Teachers frequently rely on WhatsApp groups to share homework reminders, lesson updates, and school-related announcements, aiming to enhance communication efficiency and ensure academic follow-up. While this practice strengthens home–school connections, it also raises critical concerns regarding its potential impact on students’ academic independence and the growing responsibilities placed on parents. Emerging educational practices suggest that excessive reliance on WhatsApp-based reminders may foster student dependency, as learners increasingly depend on their parents—particularly mothers—to monitor messages, manage assignments, and ensure task completion. In many cases, accountability for missed or incomplete work is redirected from students to parents, thereby undermining students’ self-regulation and autonomy while intensifying parental emotional and practical burden. This shift risks reinforcing external motivation patterns at the expense of developing students’ internal responsibility and independent learning skills. This study employs a mixed-methods research design to examine the educational and social implications of WhatsApp-based communication in elementary and middle schools within the Palestinian community in Nazareth, Israel. The qualitative phase consists of semi-structured interviews with teachers and mothers, alongside observational analysis of WhatsApp group interactions. Insights derived from this phase inform the development of a quantitative questionnaire administered to a broader sample of participants to assess the prevalence and intensity of identified patterns. Data analysis combines thematic analysis for qualitative findings with descriptive statistical analysis for quantitative results. The study is expected to provide nuanced insights into how digital communication tools can be used more strategically to balance parental involvement with the promotion of students’ academic independence. The findings aim to inform educators and policymakers about the need for sustainable digital communication practices that support student autonomy while alleviating parental burden in digitally mediated learning environments.