Hows and whys of parental involvement in a national ‘neoliberal laboratory’: aspirations, values and beliefs in relation to children’s education among Chilean urban lower-middle-class parents

Abstract

This paper sought to shed light on the beliefs, aspirations and values in relation to education that shape parental ways of involvement among Chilean urban lower-middle-class parents. Using the capability approach as the main theoretical framework and a critical epistemology, the discussion focuses on the way in which the pre-eminence of instrumental and positional dimensions of education arguably places limitations on how education is understood and valued; sets boundaries for parental involvement and overloads families. This situation ultimately diminishes the power of education to disrupt intergenerational cycles of disadvantage among Chilean urban lower-middle-class families.

Keywords:

• Capability approach
• neoliberalism
• education marketisation
• parental involvement

Notes

1. Names of participants and schools have been changed.

2. The test that Chilean students must sit prior to applying to university.