‘Simply the best for my children’: patterns of parental involvement in education

Abstract

This article explores parental involvement in the educational trajectories of children in Europe. The analysis is embedded in the framework of the three dominant contemporary social processes that have been acknowledged as crucial factors for the educational and life trajectories of young people today, i.e. familialization, institutionalization, and individualization. The article draws on qualitative data gathered during interviews with parents of lower secondary school students in disadvantaged city areas within the research project, GOETE, in eight European countries. The analysis focuses on specific behavioral aspects that were identified as the most relevant in our empirical evidence: parental educational aspirations and future plans for their children, the role of parents in decision-making in educational transitions and trajectories, parental participation in the school, and parental support with schoolwork. The most striking finding is the persistent emphasis on individual responsibility for both students and parents in terms of education. Parents realize that the future of their child not only depends on the work of the teacher but also to a great and growing degree on parents as coeducators. This parental awareness results in a high level of confidence in the power of education, which is met by parental skepticism when they experience a lack of school support and distant parent-teacher relationships and communication.

Between gate-keeping and support: teachers’ perception of their role in transition

“…Our data show that parental involvement plays a significant role in students' transition processes (see also Ule et al, 2015) and teachers seem to be well aware of this influence: However, according to teachers, parent involvement is not positive or constructive in all cases, and that influences their work with students. One of the most telling descriptions of parental involvement comes from an Italian principal: "Parents should sometimes be more present, sometime less."…”

“…While most parents closely monitor their children's school career, aware that their future depends on further education (Bakker, Denessen, Dennissen, & Oolbekking-Machand, 2013;Ule, Živoder, & du Bois-Reymond, 2015), others -more often those from disadvantaged social backgrounds with limited cultural and economic resources -find fewer ways of effective participation in their children's school work and decision-making processes. In both cases, either too much pressure or a lack of involvement from the parents is harmful for students' autonomous growth, learning motivation, and self-esteem.…”

“…An indirect confirmation of these cooling out strategies emerges when triangulating teachers' self-reports with the accounts and narratives of the students we interviewed in other parts of the GOETE project. They often complained about school and teacher strategies to divert them from their vocational plans or simply put them on tracks which they regarded as too light and useless for their further educational and professional careers (Walther, Warth, Ule, & du Bois-Reymond, 2015;Ule et al, 2015).…”

Η Γονική Εμπλοκή Υπό Το Πρίσμα Της Θεώρησης Του "Εκπαιδευτικού Θύλακα" Του Παιδιού

“…Η τάση σε πολιτικό και οικονομικό επίπεδο για αποκέντρωση και περισσότερη τοπική αυτονομία στο πλαίσιο της εκπαιδευτικής πολιτικής μεταφράστηκε μεταξύ άλλων σε αίτημα για το άνοιγμα της σχολικής κοινότητας προς την τοπική κοινωνία και τους γονείς (OECD, 1997(OECD, , 2006. Επιπλέον, διατυπώνεται ανάγκη και αίτημα για εκδημοκρατισμό της λειτουργίας και της διαχείρισης των σχολικών μονάδων και για την προαγωγή της αξίας της ισότητας http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 11/05/2018 09:03:55 | (Sandberg & Vuorinen, 2008· Theodorou, 2007, καθώς οι γονείς φαίνεται να συνειδητοποιούν τη σημασία της συμβολής τους αλλά και να διεκδικούν μεγαλύτερο ρόλο στην επίσημη εκπαίδευση των παιδιών τους ακόμη, και σε επίπεδο λήψης αποφάσεων (Ule, Živoder, & du Bois-Reymond, 2015) αποδίδοντας στη γονική εμπλοκή την έννοια της «εταιρικότητας» (partnership) (Driessen, Smit, & Sleegers, 2005). Τέλος, οι σύγχρονες παιδαγωγικές προσεγγίσεις δίνουν έμφαση στον κοινωνικό χαρακτήρα της μάθησης, στα ενδιαφέροντα και τις μαθησιακές εμπειρίες του παιδιού πέρα από όσες συντελούνται εντός του σχολικού πλαισίου/περιβάλλοντος, προάγοντας τη συνεργασία μεταξύ των βασικών φορέων κοινωνικοποίησης του παιδιού, με έμφαση στη οικογένεια.…”

Class, Mothering and the Values of Food

“…Par enthood has increasingly become a matter of public concern (Lee 2014;Ule et al 2015;Geinger et al 2013) and recent years have seen an intensification of the relations between the Danish comprehensive school and families which emphasise parent involvement as the way to a successful schooling (Dannesboe 2012;Knudsen 2010). This has been initiated through establishing local parent councils, organising a range of social events at schools and play groups in homes, and through expectations that the group of parents will meet in other contexts, both with and without the children, in order to become friends.…”