Parental involvement with schooling and parental engagement with their children’s learning in disadvantaged areas in Wales.

Bond, Amy 2022. Parental involvement with schooling and parental engagement with their children’s learning in disadvantaged areas in Wales. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Introduction Parents' involvement and engagement with their child’s school and learning are key to children’s educational outcomes and life successes. Parental involvement and engagement are both socioeconomically distributed, and often limited amongst lower socioeconomic status (SES) families. Deficit approaches towards parents are often adopted and limited research considers the impact of poverty and stigmatisation on parents’ lives and their potential to participate and engage in their child’s school or learning. This research uses socioecological frameworks to support understandings of parental involvement and engagement within schools and learning in deprived areas in Wales. Methods Four schools participating in the ‘Food and Fun: School Holiday Enrichment Programme’ (SHEP) were recruited. The data were collected at two points; the 2019 summer holidays and between May and June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Primarily qualitative interviews were used to explore child (n=13), parent (n=15) and school staff (n=8) perspectives on how poverty and stigmatisation impact home-school relationships, parental involvement and engagement. Secondary data analysis of Free School Meal (FSM) data and Key Stage 2 (KS2) educational outcomes provided contextual demographics of participating schools. Results While parents from lower SES backgrounds were involved and engaged in their children’s schooling and learning, school-level middle-class ideologies and deficit discourses were prevalent. Poverty and stigmatisation affected all aspects of family’s lives, negatively affecting home-school relationships, parental involvement and engagement. School events for families were commonplace, however, the structural and practical barriers which limit some families’ attendance and potentially exacerbate existing inequalities were not considered. The need for increased opportunities for parents to contribute towards school decision making processes, including the practicalities of events and their children’s education were evident. Support staff in schools were also recognised as valuable assets in the development of home-school relationships. Conclusion This research provides understanding to how families and all levels of the socioecological framework interact to support or hinder parental involvement and engagement in education and iv learning. These findings are important for policymakers and practitioners in understanding the impact of poverty on families and their involvement and engagement in the education system.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	11 September 2023
Last Modified:	11 Sep 2023 14:58
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/162389

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