Privileging the individual through the collective commitment: parental strategies and dynamics of involvement in a middle-class school

This paper attempts to contribute to the growing literature focusing on middle-class parents, their educational strategies and their role in the construction of socio-educational advantages/inequalities especially in the contexts of Spanish educational discourses, to the de-naturalization of middle-...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: González-Patiño, Javier, Poveda Bicknell, David Patrick
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/676580
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/676580
https://dx.doi.org/10.17583/remie.2015.1524
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Parental involvement
Educational policies
Middle-class ideologies
Family school relationship
School-family-community
Participación parental
Políticas educativas
Ideologías de la clase media
Relaciones familia escuela
Familia-escuela-comunidad
Educación
Psicología
Descripción
Sumario:This paper attempts to contribute to the growing literature focusing on middle-class parents, their educational strategies and their role in the construction of socio-educational advantages/inequalities especially in the contexts of Spanish educational discourses, to the de-naturalization of middle-class parental ideologies and the educational policies that are presented as ideologically neutral but are closely aligned to this middle-class ideological complex. The findings come from an action research project in a public (state-run) primary school in Spain, attempting to track and document the “natural history” of the various strategies of “school involvement” displayed by parents which range from collaboration with classroom, school and teacher-initiated activities, to surveillance of school policies and programming to open confrontation with the school administration and among parents. This case study uncovers a complex scenario in a relatively homogeneous (in socio-economic and ethnic terms) site where parental dynamics of school involvement are varied and shaped by a complex and heterogeneous set of interests and beliefs that seriously invite to reconsider “school-family continuity” in middle-class settings. Additionally, we would also like to use the case study to raise some ethical and methodological questions in relation to the complexities of holding multiple identities and roles in the field