Investing in children's future

Cross-cultural perspectives and ideologies on parental involvement in education

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3103365
AutoresT Kremer-Sadlik (0000-0002-3702-0668, University of California, Los Angeles), Marilena Fatigante (0000-0002-8880-7567, Sapienza University of Rome)
Año2015
Volumen22
Número1
Páginas67-84
Fecha de publicación2015-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaChildhood (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0907-5682 • E-ISSN: 1461-7013
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0907568213513307
OpenAlexW2089480556
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas21
Referencias citadas26

Drawing on two ethnographic studies of everyday middle-class family life in Los Angeles and Rome, this cross-cultural study examines parents' practices of and beliefs about involvement in children's education. It analyzes parents' interviews and naturalistic video recordings of parent-child interactions at home to access parents' perspectives on and ways of enacting involvement in school-related activities. Findings indicate that while the LA and Rome parents engaged in similar practices, their involvement in their children's education was experienced differently and motivated by different assumptions. The article argues that differences in parents' perceptions and practices reflect and reproduce marked cultural preferences and expectations within the local education systems and reveal distinct ideologies regarding childhood. Drawing on Halldén, the study proposes that LA parents tended to treat childhood as a period of 'preparation' for adulthood where there is more deliberate shaping of a child's path, displaying a belief that children's future much depends on present actions. Rome parents tended to view their child less as a project that they needed to work on, leaving room for children's autonomy and freedom. Finally, the study argues that the examination of local sociocultural and institutional contexts offers a more comprehensive and situated interpretation of Italian and US parents' choices and actions

Autonomy · Developmental psychology · Ethnography · Ideology · Naturalistic observation · Perception · Politics · Situated · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Early Childhood Education and Development · Gender Studies · Parental Involvement in Education · Psychology · Social Psychology