Parental Involvement in Education in and out of School

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which parents—mothers and fathers—are involved in their children's education both in and out of school. It compares involvement of families with children in the final year of primary education (or its equivalent) in state and private schools, and amongst the state school parents compares families in terms of social class and mothers’ educational level. The findings indicate that mothers generally assume overriding responsibility for their children's education. Furthermore, mothers with higher levels of education are more likely to use workbooks and employ private tutors to support their children's education; attendance at parents’ evenings and informal discussions with teachers were also more likely to be shared with the child's father. It is suggested that mothers’ educational level is a better predictor of involvement than is social class and that, in the face of a diversification of family forms, mothers’ education may be more instructive in understanding educational involvement than social class based on employment groups.