“Parents, even if their income is low, can help young people to stay in school and gain some qualifications if they are interested in their child’s progress, show that they believe their child is capable of succeeding and wish her/him to do so” (Bartley 2006)
“Parents in deprived families are less likely to be involved in their children’s education. Of particular importance is the provision of a stimulating home learning environment, which is found less often in deprived contexts” (DCSF 2009b)
“Young people who perceived their parents to be monitoring their activities had higher levels of achievement” (Wilson 2009)
It has been pointed out that parents can make a major difference to their children’s education (Desforges and Abouchaar 2003). Firstly, this can involve ‘at home’ parenting i.e. provision of a secure and stable environment, parent-child discussion, good models of constructive social and educational values and high aspirations. Secondly, in relation to home-school links, this can involve contact with school to share information, participation in school events and participation in the work of the school including governance.
White working class parental involvement is not rocket science. There is plenty of good practice which needs to be replicated. For example, government’s own National Strategies has produced case studies (2009) which recorded that “all the schools worked hard to develop positive relationships with parents/carers”. Desforges and Abouchaar have also pointed out that:
According to Strand (2007), White young people were the least likely to have paid-for private tuition and least likely for their parents to know their child’s whereabouts. He also points out that parents were most likely to report quarrels with their child more than once a week which meant that whatever social capital the parents had was not transferred to the children (Coleman (1988).
Evans (2007) agrees that working class parents are committed to education of their children and want them to do well but don’t always know how to help in the process. “For example, children may regularly be told to ‘go and pick up a book!’ but parents aren’t necessarily likely to sit down with their children to show them how to read and enjoy it ..”. They often also lack the confidence to critically engage with the school if they disagree with something the school is doing. Unlike middle class parents they are more likely to look up the teachers as having superior knowledge. “Many parents left the child’s education to the school “(Demie and Lewis 2010)
Lott (2001) presents a depressing picture about how poorer parents are treated by the education system and the barriers they face in relation to their contact with schools.
Lareau (1989) also reported that schools established home-school liaison arrangements based on middle class norms, knowledge and expectations, and interpreted parental non-participation as a lack of interest in education rather than as a deficit of cultural capital.
Both Lott and Lareau based their research on American schools. It is tempting to think the picture is a lot better in the UK though I have my doubts. What is the situation in your school? Are there hard-to-reach parents or is yours a hard-to-reach school for working class parents? Are there working class parents in your school community who face some of the barriers and problems highlighted above?
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