Investing in children's future

Cross-cultural perspectives and ideologies on parental involvement in education

Bibliographic Data

ID3103365
AuthorsT Kremer-Sadlik (0000-0002-3702-0668, University of California, Los Angeles), Marilena Fatigante (0000-0002-8880-7567, Sapienza University of Rome)
Year2015
Volume22
Issue1
Pages67-84
Publication date2015-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChildhood (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0907-5682 • E-ISSN: 1461-7013
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0907568213513307
OpenAlexW2089480556
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited26

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