“Alignment-Plus”: alignment with schooling requirements and cultural-bridging among indigenous middle-class parents

Abstract

Education research demonstrates that positive and trusting family/school relationships support academic achievement but for many Indigenous parents in Canada legacies of residential schooling have made it difficult to develop strong bonds with schools and teachers. Drawing on interviews with 69 Indigenous parents and eight non-Indigenous parents of children who identify as Indigenous from two Canadian provinces, this study explores the intersection between family/school relationships and social class, and highlights distinct ways that middle-class Indigenous parents are involved in schooling. Shifting from a “deficit” approach to a “strength based” approach highlights existing resources and capacities among those who are comfortable and familiar with navigating the education system while also creating prospects to build on that capacity to empower others who are less familiar/comfortable.

Keywords:

• Indigenous peoples
• family/school relationships
• class inequality
• Canada
• parent cultural capital

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The term ‘parent’ refers to biological parents as well as caregivers, guardians and extended family members caring for children.

2 The term ‘Indigenous’ refers to descendants of the original inhabitants of North America.

3 Canada does not have a national education system; each province/territory jurisdictions is responsible for its own school system (in which most Indigenous children and youth – about four out of five – participate); First Nations children living on reserves typically attend schools under shared federal and First Nations authority at least up to high school.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Award number: 430-2018-00251.