Cultural capital and educational expectations of native and immigrant parents of primary school students: a qualitative study

Abstract

This paper uses the concept of ‘cultural capital’ from the theory of Pierre Bourdieu and it aims on the one hand to investigate the similarities and differences between the institutionalized and objectified cultural capital of native and immigrant parents of state primary school students in Greece and on the other hand to correlate these two forms of cultural capital with their expectations for the educational future of their children. The research was conducted during the spring semester of 2014 with the use of semi-structured interviews, in which 20 parents (10 native and 10 immigrant) of children in the 6th grade of primary schools in the city of Patras participated. The results of this study showed that there were more differences than similarities between these two categories of parents and they are mainly focused on cultural goods which exist in their house as well as on cultural activities of family members during their spare time. The educational expectations of the sum total of parents of students regardless of national origin and educational level seem to be very high. It also emerged that educational level and occupation of parents is correlated to their specific expectations for the educational future of their children.

Validación de una Escala para Medir el Índice de Eficacia Intercultural del Profesorado

“…Como ya señalábamos en la introducción, la realidad de las aulas actualmente es muy distinta la de hace unas décadas, requiriendo del profesorado no sólo una adaptación a esa heterogeneidad social y cultural, sino una gestión eficiente de la misma (Howard & Aleman, 2008) para lograr una educación inclusiva (Cabré Olivé, Flecha-Garcia, Ionescu, Pulido & Sorde-Marti, 2017;Koustourakis, Asimaki & Spiliopoulou, 2016;Aubert, Villarejo, Cabré & Santos, 2016), y el éxito académico para todos y todas (cuando la última prueba PISA -OCDE, 2016a-nos indica que la diferencia de rendimiento en la misma de alumnado inmigrante respecto al nativo es de 50 puntos menos). En el centro de dicha gestión se encuentra, sin duda, el profesorado, existiendo una evidenciada repercusión en el alumno de las actitudes, creencias y competencias del docente, especialmente en el caso del alumnado diverso.…”

Qualitative Methodology Innovation That Promotes Educational Success of Children of Immigrant Families in Disadvantaged Contexts

“…Based on interviews with native and immigrant parents at a primary school in an urban context in Greece, Koustourakis et al (2016) analyse how Pierre Bourdieu’s ‘cultural capital’ correlates with expectations for the educational future of their children. One of the main findings was that the educational expectations of parents, regardless of their national origin and educational background, appear to be very high.…”

“…In particular, all parents, native and immigrant, want their children to complete high school and then go to university. However, native families with socio-cultural advantages expected their children to have prestigious scientific occupations, while Greek families with socio-cultural disadvantages and immigrant families wanted their children to choose occupations that ensure immediate job stability such as the armed forces or the police (Koustourakis et al, 2016). However, neither state of the art, nor the topics that guide the interviews, mention any available evidence of educational actions that contribute to the expectations of both immigrant families and native families from disadvantaged contexts that their children can reach the most prestigious scientific careers, overcoming thus the determinism of some Bourdieu’s concepts.…”