Pathways to Parental Engagement: Contributions of Parents,Teachers, and Schools in Cultural Context

Research Findings: This study examined correlates of parents’ reported school engagement in an ethnically diverse, rural sample (N = 346) of parents and teachers in kindergarten through Grade 2. Of particular interest were role expectations and family–school relationships in American Indian families, who historically have been marginalized by schools. In terms of role expectations, parents and teachers agreed that they should support each other’s roles, parents should have more responsibility than schools for teaching social skills, and families and schools should have shared responsibility for children’s academic success. Teachers had higher expectations than parents for parent engagement, which in turn was greater when parent–teacher communication was more frequent and the school climate was more welcoming. American Indian parents more strongly endorsed a separation of family and school roles and felt less welcomed at school; ethnicity moderated correlates of reported parent engagement. Practice or Policy: These findings have practical promise given that parent–teacher communication, school climate, and role expectations are more easily altered than are structural barriers that also may hinder parents’ involvement in supporting their children’s early education.     

School choice with Chinese characteristics

This paper explores the major characteristics of school choice in the Chinese context. It highlights the involvement of cultural and economic capital, such as choice fees, donations, prize-winning certificates and awards in gaining school admission, as well as the use of social capital in the form of guanxi. The requirement for these resources in order to be successful in the positional competition for admission to key schools has greatly advantaged children from middle class families. Schools and local governments cash in on school choice fever in order to obtain significant economic returns. The current school choice process creates winners among some of the parties involved: school places for selected students, and additional funds for schools and local governments. However, the practice exacerbates the educational inequality that already exists in society.     

‘Talent circulators’ in Shanghai: return migrants and their strategies for success

This paper argues for a flexible identity and citizenship framework to explore how return migrants, haigui, have readapted and re-established themselves back into Shanghai society, and how they have used their talents, knowledge and guanxi networks to optimise their chances of success. It argues that these return migrants, as talent circulators in their circulatory migration process, have adopted a flexible identity and citizenship, to confront their conflicting emotions and negotiated sacrifices for the well-being of their individual self and family as they expand their socio-economic and territorial space.     

‘You want the best for your kids’: improving educational outcomes for children living in poverty through parental engagement

Background: Existing evidence suggests a relationship between family social contexts, family relationships and interactions, children’s social and cognitive development and educational outcomes. Interventions that assist families in relation to parenting and supporting children’s development can have positive effects on both parents’ skills and the educational progress of their children.

Purpose: This article reports on a study conducted in an area with high levels of social and economic deprivation in Scotland, which aimed to investigate the nature and effectiveness of the services in place to support poor families. The project focused on capturing the experiences of parents and what they perceived as effective support from the nursery and school staff in terms of getting them more involved in their children’s learning.

Sample: There was a particular focus on the four-to-seven-year age group, thus covering the crucial transition from pre-school (or non-school) provision to primary school. A sample of three Early Education & Childcare Centres (EECCs) and three schools were selected. The schools and EECCs were all from areas of high social deprivation and had a high proportion of children on free school meals.

Design and methods: The study was qualitative in design and included in-depth semi-structured interviews with 19 service managers and practitioners, six focus groups with parents and six activity groups with children. Data were analysed using both pre-determined and emerging codes.

Results: While all parents recognised the value of education for their children’s social mobility and opportunities and were keen to engage in activities, they remained aware of the limited resources they could draw upon, mainly in terms of their restricted academic competencies, specialist knowledge and qualifications. The desire to help their children overcome their families’ economic circumstances was also hampered by the absence of strong social and kinship networks that they could draw upon.

Conclusions: We draw on concepts of social and cultural capital to examine parents’ positioning in relation to their children’s education. The conclusion highlights parents’ strategic orientation to school/nurseries, often seen as a resource of cultural capital, and calls for a more positive discourse of parental engagement in relation to disadvantaged groups.     

Moral spaces,the struggle for an intergenerational environmental ethics and the social ecology of families: an ‘other’ form of environmental education

‘Green families’ in Australia were studied so as to shed light on how a more durable, everyday environmental ethic and ecopolitic might slowly be enacted in the intimacy of the home ‘place’ over an extended period of time in rapidly changing socio‐cultural‐ecological conditions. Of particular interest to this study of the green household, or postmodern oikos, was how its proximal ‘moral spaces’ have been nurtured intergenerationally by family members from within the broader global climate of what Zygmunt Bauman refers to as the ‘moral lag’ of postmodernity. Three layers of interpretive findings about the social ecology and family dynamics of this oikos are presented in an effort to provide detailed understandings about families’ eco being, dwelling and becoming. Implications for education for the environment can be gleaned from the ‘best’ ecopedagogical practices found in the home that are ‘other’ than those occurring in the formal education sector. This study adds to the theorizations of ‘social ecology’, ‘experiential education’, ‘ecopedagogy’ and, more generally, the notion of an everyday ‘ecocentrism’, while providing some clues for how environmental education in schools might mirror pedagogical aspects of the postmodern oikos.     

How parental and school responses to choice policies reconfigure a rural education market in Victoria,Australia

Market principles now dominate the education and social policies of many Anglophone countries, including Australia, but articulate differentially within specific contexts. Existing historical legacies, local economic and social conditions, and geographical settings interact with federal and state funding and transport policies to shape the nature of regional education markets and the choices families make in a rural school market in Australia. Through two school case studies, this article explores the effects of policy shifts on parental choice and student movement within a regional Victorian community. Informed by policy sociology, the article views the policy as a dynamic, often ad hoc process with contradictory effects. It indicates how an ensemble of federal and state funding and conveyancing policies enable some schools to develop marketing practices that reconstruct the local education market to their advantage through the introduction of transport and flexi-boarding policies. It demonstrates that education markets are not confined to urban settings and that while choice is not a new phenomenon in this rural area, federal and state funding and transport policies have reconfigured local markets and intensified the market work undertaken by schools and parents with, in this instance, unequal effects on the provision of schooling in a rural region.     

Boarding schools: A longitudinal examination of Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous boarders’ and non-boarders’ wellbeing

Improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australian students is a key strategy to helping Indigenous people reach their full potential. This has resulted in well-intentioned efforts by Australian educators and governments to ensure Indigenous children have positive school experiences. However, Indigenous students still lag behind their non-Indigenous counterparts in educational outcomes. This is particularly so for Indigenous students living in rural and remote parts of Australia where educational opportunities are limited, especially in high school. One solution to this problem has been to enrol these students in boarding schools in urban and metropolitan centres. While research on the success of boarding schools for Indigenous students is scarce, what little that does exist is not encouraging. The focus of this research was to examine the effects of boarding for Indigenous (n = 11) and non-Indigenous students’ (n = 158) wellbeing (N = 1423) in two large private boys’ schools. Participating students aged 12–18 years old completed a survey measuring wellbeing constructs on two occasions, 12 months apart. Non-Indigenous boys were generally higher in wellbeing compared with Indigenous boys. There was also evidence of improved social wellbeing beyond that of non-Indigenous boarders over time. Overall, while evidence of merit was weak, boarding schools may benefit their Indigenous students’ development in social wellbeing.     

Exam-oriented education and implementation of education policy for migrant children in urban China

This paper investigates the implementation of education policy for migrant children in urban China. Historically, rural and urban residents in China were separated by the hukou system, and rural children were not allowed to attend urban schools. Since the relaxation of the hukou system in the early 1980s, large numbers of rural families migrated to cities. The right of migrant children to education in urban China was formally recognised by the government in a series of policies starting in 2001. The research reported, here, reveals that migrant children did not have equal access to urban schools nor did they enjoy an equally good education to that of urban children. Based on 53 in-depth interviews with school principals, teachers and pupils in two provincial capitals in China, this paper explores the main factors affecting the implementation of education policy for migrant children. The research demonstrates that policies relating to equal admissions criteria were not implemented as intended, with migrant children not having equal access to schools. However, policies relating to non-segregation and academic support were implemented as intended. It is argued that, at the school level, this is a result of the examination-oriented system, and schools’ responses to this.     

Perceptions of typically developing children in India about their siblings with disabilities

ABSTRACT

In India, people with disabilities often struggle to access various opportunities and resources. As a result of perceptions within the Indian culture around disabilities, families may face social, financial, and emotional difficulties. Within the family, a child with a disability may lead to strained relationships, particularly with siblings. Often siblings have little knowledge about disabilities and may feel ostracised. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the knowledge and attitudes of 12 Indian children regarding their siblings with disabilities, including their perceptions about disabilities against the backdrop of societal attitudes. Participants were interviewed to understand their knowledge of their siblings’ disabilities, to examine their sibling relationships, and to assess how school and society influenced their perceptions about disabilities. Results from this study can help family members understand how disability shapes relationships between children. The findings also provide key stakeholders with information that might help them better support families.     

Rural Students in a Chinese Top-Tier University: Family Background,School Effects,and Academic Performance

Abstract

New preferential policies in China promise to increase the number of rural students entering top-tier universities, where there is a wider path to a higher social status. While a substantial body of literature has investigated rural students’ trajectories to university, there is a dearth of systematic empirical studies on the academic success of rural students in colleges and universities. This study seek to address this gap by examining the academic achievement of representative samples of students entering an elite university in China, including their place of origin, family background, school experience, and the characteristics that align with their academic performance. The data suggest no significant difference in academic performance obtained by urban and rural students with respect to average grade point average (over four years). It also suggests that fathers’ occupations may not be associated with the academic achievements of students from different families. However, the data suggest a relatively clear school effect on the academic performance of students at University S.¹For ethical considerations, we use pseudonyms in the article. The study enriches the discussions of the inequality issue in China’s higher education sector. It also enriches the literature in sociology of education by looking at the relative strength of the relationship between the possible causes and outcomes of schooling.     

Raising levels of school student engagement and retention in rural,regional and disadvantaged areas: is it a lost cause?

This paper reports on the views of key members of the educational community about student engagement and retention in rural, regional and disadvantaged areas of the Australian state of Tasmania. It provides insights into the attributed reasons for the longstanding low levels of student retention in Tasmania, and the possible ways to militate against the widely censured problem of students leaving school too soon. The paper draws from principles of Bronfenbrenner’s model of ecology to situate the 25 participants who formed the sample of the study in the exosystem of the environment of the young people whose educational attainment and retention in schools is the focus of this work. Data analysis generated three major themes: families and the socio-cultural environment; teachers and teaching; and the school system. The study’s findings play an important role in prompting us to question when, and if, the dire situation of student dropout in the state and in similar contexts worldwide will begin to be reversed. Implications of the work include the need to develop and sustain a strong policy environment in which high-quality education and schooling success are contextualised as key features to which members across the systems and sections of society can contribute.     

农村留守儿童问题调研报告

通过调查分析农村留守儿童的生活和学习情况,发现农村留守儿童存在由于监护人对留守儿童学习介入过少导致的学习问题,由于缺乏亲情导致的生活问题,由于缺乏完整的家庭教育导致的心理问题。这些问题的形成有社会方面的原因,家庭方面的原因,学校方面的原因。解决这些问题要从以下几方面入手:逐步消除城乡差距,加大社会力量帮助儿童的力度,建立农村社区儿童教育和监护体系,加强农村寄宿制学校的建设,在农村学校教育中增设心理课程。     

School composition,school culture and socioeconomic inequalities in young people's health: Multi‐level analysis of the Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children (HBSC) survey in Wales

Health inequalities emerge during childhood and youth, before widening in adulthood. Theorising, testing and interrupting the mechanisms through which inequalities are perpetuated and sustained is vital. Schools are viewed as settings through which inequality in young people's health may be addressed, but few studies examine the social processes via which institutional structures reproduce or mitigate health inequalities. Informed by Markham and Aveyard's theory of human functioning and school organisation, including their concept of institutional boundaries, critical theories of marketisation and the concept of micro‐political practices within schools, this paper presents analysis of student survey data (N = 9055) from 82 secondary schools in Wales. It examines the role of socioeconomic composition, social relationships at school and institutional priorities in mitigating or perpetuating health inequality. It finds that affluent schools were most unequal in terms of student health behaviours and subjective wellbeing. In relation to health behaviours, students from affluent families accrue a disproportionate benefit. For wellbeing, students from poorer families reported lower subjective wellbeing where attending more affluent schools. Student–staff relationships appear to be a key mechanism underpinning these effects: poor relationships with staff were predicted by a pupil's position within schools’ socioeconomic hierarchy and associated with worse health outcomes. That is, students from the poorest families reported better relationships with teachers where attending less affluent schools. Universal approaches engaging with these social processes are needed to reduce health inequalities.     

The geography of school choice in a city with growing inequality: the case of Vancouver

This analysis aims to measure the impact of school choice policy on secondary school students’ enrolment patterns within the social geography of Vancouver, an increasingly polarized global city. The rationale for the study is to examine the impact of ‘education market’ reforms on the socio-economic composition of schools in a Canadian context, where a social welfare commitment to educational equality is being replaced by market-oriented policies and increasing social inequality. Our study is guided by Bourdieu’s theory of site in considering whether growing inequality and polarization of wealth in a city are correlated with the ways families choose schools. We apply a geographical methodology (Geographic Information System) to delineate spatial patterns of choosing schools. Our analysis shows that those who opt out of the under-subscribed schools come from the neighborhoods with relatively higher capital than those who remain in their assigned schools. Also, those who opt into the over-subscribed schools in the affluent areas come from the neighborhoods with above-average levels of capital in Vancouver. Overall, we find that the spatial inequality in school choice generally follows the uneven distribution of capital/wealth across the city. The pattern of student mobility indicates an increasing level of segregation.     

How African American Mothers from Urban,Low-Income Backgrounds Support Their Children’s Kindergarten Transition: Qualitative Findings

The transition to kindergarten is a critical milestone in children’s lives, with implications for academic and future life success. The demographic family/parental variables of residence, social class, and race have been associated with children’s adjustment to kindergarten. In particular, children growing up in families from urban, low-income African American backgrounds are at heighted risk for negative academic, cognitive, and socio-emotional outcomes as they transition to kindergarten. Relatively little inductive research exists on the kindergarten transition of this population and how families from urban, low-income African backgrounds positively support their children’s kindergarten adjustment. However, researchers using qualitative methods are increasingly examining the first-hand experiences of families from urban, low-income African American backgrounds to better understand family beliefs and practices that promote children’s successful kindergarten transition. Contributing to this gap in the literature, we utilized qualitative interviews informed by resilience theory to explore how 20 mothers from urban, low-income African American backgrounds facilitated their Head Start preschoolers’ transition to kindergarten. We found that, despite possessing parental/family risk factors associated with ineffective kindergarten transitions, mothers monitored and assessed their children’s academic and socio-emotional school readiness abilities, promoting readiness competencies while addressing readiness weaknesses. One of the ways that mothers supported children’s transition readiness was through one-on-one conversations with preschoolers. Our findings provide recommendations for effective home–school collaborations that support children’s successful kindergarten transition. Collaborating with engaged and motivated parents, Head Start can assist families and children prior to kindergarten and continue to serve as a link between families and children and elementary schools.     

Learning at the Intersection of Self and Society: The Family Geobiography as a Context for Data Science Education

Open large-scale datasets (LSDS) and data visualization technologies are new cultural tools that have potential to inform public dialogue and learning about important socioeconomic and scientific matters, particularly if the data is used to consider both personal and shared experiences. This paper reports on a design study in which diverse middle and high school youth in a free summer workshop at an urban public library were asked to model their family geobiographies, or their personal family migration stories, with socioeconomic LSDS. Youth represented family decision-making and social conditions that might have motivated family movements with online, dynamic data modeling and mapping tools (Gapminder.org; SocialExplorer.com). The qualitative video analysis examined participants’ experiences and learning in storytelling and modeling the family geobiography, focusing on multimodal talk-in-interaction to understand how the study design engaged learners’ capacities, histories, and imagined futures in relation to the LSDS and supported learning about oneself and society. Grounded examples from two family cases are used to illustrate how participants placed their families and selves into data ontologies and the role of family members in composing storylines.     

The coming of the ecological university

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to shed light on some of the issues raised in the often polarised debate around effective schooling by exploring the complexities involved in trying to uncover the determinants of the differential ‘success’ of schools. In doing so, the paper challenges the oversimplification which characterises many of the arguments around school improvement by demonstrating that it is not a question, of either management and teaching or the social context of schooling determining the success or otherwise of schools. Drawing on in‐depth qualitative research, the paper demonstrates the intricate and intimate connections between what school managers and teachers do and the socio‐economic and discursive environments within which they operate.     

The quest for higher education by the Chinese middle class: retrenching social mobility?

This article examines how and why the Chinese second-generation middle class, who are unable to obtain admission in China’s premier universities, turn their back on other public universities and instead attend private universities in their country. It finds that their parents capitalize on their privileged guanxi (connections) to send their children to private universities and then study abroad to secure a generational reproduction of their class status and mobility. The Chinese new middle class families look upon joint-partnership private universities as the stepping stone for overseas study. In addition, this article examines how extant Western class theories, including Weberian, Neo-Weberian, and Bourdieuian theories, cannot provide an adequate account of class formation and the generational stratification in present-day China. To explain this reproduction of class in contemporary China, this paper explores how and why the Maoist social institutions of danwei (work unit) and hukou (household registration) still matter in post-reform China in determining middle class’s life chance. Seen in this light, the progenies of cadres and skilled professionals are the main beneficiaries of economic reform.     

Globally mobile middle class lives in government secondary schools

ABSTRACT

Schooling has long been studied for its role in class formation and reproduction, Australian government secondary schools have also traditionally been associated with ‘the local’ and with ‘nation building’. Some schools might now also be engaged with ideas of the ‘the global’ not only through policy practices and priorities, but also through the social dynamics of migration and movement. In globalizing times neither class formation nor schooling can be thought of simply in national terms. They are connected to globalizing forces yet cannot be divorced from their national specificity. We suggest that within Australia recent and historical emphases on skilled migration are pivotal to considering local connections to global middle class circuits. We argue for new approaches to studying the school experiences of global middle-class families and students, through a focus on transnational connectivities, generational dynamics, family and social life, rather than on more ‘culturalist’ approaches and national comparisons.     

城乡初中生教育期望的差异研究:个人、家庭与社会结构的影响

本研究考查了我国初中生教育期望的城乡差异现状,并从个人家庭与学校社会两个视角探究了差异产生的机制。研究发现,我国初中生对于获得普通高等教育的期望存在显著的城乡差异,城市户籍学生的教育期望高于农村及流动学生。这种差异受学生认知能力、家庭背景及学校环境共同影响,其中家庭背景的影响大于认知能力,学校户籍结构的影响作用最为明显。研究认为,营造良好学校教育氛围、缓解学校户籍分割、增强学校融合是促进我国教育公平与社会公平的重要举措。