A qualitative study of how school practices can support generation of social capital, through analysis of parent views on participation with schools and with their child's learning

Abstract

In recent years there has been a growing body of evidence within educational research that increased parental participation with children’s learning will have a positive impact on the child’s achievements. When parental participation does not take place, the locus of responsibility is often placed with the parents, who are positioned as ‘hard to reach’. Drawing on theories of social capital, it has been suggested that parents differ in their access to capital that affects their ability to take action and participate with schools. In this thesis, I explore parent views on how schools’ practices in relation to parent participation may be seen as impacting on the parent, with regards to empowerment, voice and social capital. The thesis consists of a meta-ethnography, a bridging document, and a piece of empirical research. Five papers were selected for the meta-ethnography. Key concepts generated through this process were ‘Cultural and Social Factors’, ‘Parental Expectations’, ‘Communication’, ‘Belonging’ and ‘Influence’. Each has been discussed and linked to existing theory and literature. This resulted in the construction of a line of argument from which a framework was developed for schools to support parental participation. The empirical research involved interviewing five parents about partnership with their children’s school, and conducting thematic analysis on the interview transcripts. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: ‘Parental participation is positive’, ‘There are differing beliefs of whose responsibility parental participation is’ and ‘Schools can support parental participation’. These themes are explored with reference to existing theory and research, and findings are seen as being consistent with findings from the meta-ethnography. This research suggests that schools can impact positively on parent participation and support generation of social capital. For this to occur successfully, I suggest that schools should attend to parents’ personal expectations regarding participation, and work to develop positive, reciprocal relationships