Middle-class parents’ educational work in an academically selective public high school

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a study on the nature of parent–school engagement at an academically selective public high school in New South Wales, Australia. Such research is pertinent given recent policies of ‘choice’ and decentralization, making a study of local stakeholders timely. The research comprised a set of interviews with parents and teachers (n = 15), through which parents – all members of the school’s Parents’ and Citizens’ group – theorized and explained their involvement with the school, and teachers spoke about their views on this involvement. Results are organized around three themes: ‘how parents worked to nurture their children’s schooling’, ‘reasons behind parents’ involvement with the school’, and ‘communication and use of parental resources by the school’. Overall it was found that while parents were making significant efforts to involve themselves in the education of their children and with the school more broadly, the reasons for their involvement were not always consistent, but instead revealed a range of motivations for and conceptions of parents’ roles within schools, which at times were at odds with the teachers’. Through this, the study contributes to our understanding of middle-class parent engagement at an unusual and particular type of school.

Keywords:

• social class
• neoconservatism/neoliberalism
• inequality/social exclusion in education
• educational policy
• Bourdieu

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the participants of this study and acknowledge those who have assisted with earlier drafts of this article: the reviewers, Associate Professor Debra Hayes and most especially Dr Helen Proctor.

Notes

1. Academically selective high schools are government funded, but select their students based on academic achievement. This is measured through the results of a voluntary exam at the end of primary school. Academically selective high schools have had a particularly influential role in the state of NSW, producing notable alumni (Campbell et al., 2009, p. 46).

2. The Gonski report was a review into school funding established by the then Labor government. Its key recommendation was to redirect funding on the basis of ‘need’; however, this required substantial state and federal investment, and when the federal government changed hands support for full implementation fell away.

3. The My School website was released in 2010 by the then Labor government with the intention of enabling parents to compare schools based on things such as demographics, levels of advantage and test results.

4. The Higher School Certificate, or HSC, is the final credential for high school students in NSW.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Meghan Stacey

Meghan Stacey is a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. Her Ph.D. research is concerned with markets in education and teachers’ experiences within them, and is being completed under the supervision of Dr Helen Proctor.