Social Class Differences in Family-School Relationships

The Importance of Cultural Capital Who/what was studied

The former researches were concerned about the influence of family background on children’s educational experiences, that is, the influence of family background on educational life opportunities and educational outcomes.

Hypothesis/research question(s) driving the study

It is proposed that class-related cultural factors shape parents’ compliance with teachers’ requests for parental participation in schooling. The analysis and conclusions are based on a study of home-school relationships of children in the first and second grades of a white working-class school and an upper-middle-class school, with the aim to examine the requests of schools towards parents in their children’s educational experience, teachers’ expectations of parental involvement and parents’ respond.

The structure of this thesis contains four parts as follows:

1. A brief review of historical variations in home-school relationships;
2. A description to the research sites and methodology;
3. A description of family-school interactions in the two communities with the aim to examine teachers’ views of family involvement in schooling;
4. To analyze the factors contributing to social class variations in home-school relationships and review the implications for future research.
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Key topics/terms/concepts

In a word, it is a qualitative study of family-school relationships in white working-class and middle-class communities. The form of cultural capital is viewed as one that social and cultural elements of family life could comply with teachers’ requests.

Key findings of the study

The research lasted for six months and the writer visited one first-grade classroom at each school and interviewed most students’ mothers individually.

As a result, parents who agreed with the administrators’ and teachers’ definition of partnership appeared to offer an educational advantage to their children. The initiative to help children at home came from parents. Generally speaking, the teachers believed that the relationship between parental participation and school performance was positive. But not all parental involvement in schooling was positive. The factors that structure parents’ participation are researched, such as educational capabilities, information about schooling, social networks and childrearing patterns. Social class position and class culture become a form of cultural capital in the school setting. The right way to educate children at home is to supervise, monitor and oversee their educational experiences.