Investigating parents’ understanding of the role of education in the lives of their children.

Abstract

The question of parents recognising the importance of education in their children's lives has become a social justice and human rights imperative. Policies and legislation have been developed to enable parents to participate in their children’ education. Despite these progressive actions, research suggests that parents have different views of the role of education and schooling in the lives of their children. The aim of this research was to investigate parents' understandings of the role of education in the lives of their children. To address this question, six parents’ understandings of the role of education in the lives of their children were investigated using a qualitative narrative inquiry, located within the critical paradigm. To investigate the key research questions of the study, in-depth semi-structured interviews and mapping were used to generate data. The study used Bourdieu's (1986) theory of practice, especially his concepts of habitus and capital, to understand and make sense of the participants’ understandings of the role of education in the lives of their children. Findings of the study revealed that participants, regardless of their socio-economic status, recognised the importance of education as a means escaping the cycle of disadvantage. For instance, participants reported that it was important for them for their children to receive education, because they did not want them to be like them. This was largely fuelled by their own experiences of education and schooling. However, ensuring that their children accessed education was not without challenges. For instance, one of the major challenges that participants reported was socioeconomic disadvantage, especially poverty. However, despite challenges, participants used their agency to push boundaries of disadvantage to ensure that their children received education. The findings of the study suggest that parents, despite the negative experiences that they might have had during their years of schooling, they still regarded education as a vehicle for improving the lives of their children, families and communities. However, findings also suggest it is important for schools to establish and nurture good and positive relationships with parents, with a view to strengthening their capacity, competence and commitment to support the education of their children.