School Characteristics and Parent Involvement

Feuerstein, A. (2000). 'School characteristics and parent involvement: Influences on participation in children's schools.' The Journal of Educational Research, 94(1), 29.

In this paper, Feuerstein (2000) argues that parent involvement in schools has traditionally been linked to individual variables such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity and family structure. However, such variables, although good predictors of parent engagement and student achievement, 'do not acknowledge the dynamic aspects of the parent-school relationship and are not easily influenced by educational or social policy' (p. 29). Focusing upon such factors may lead to a deterministic view of the relationships between family situations and a student's ability to benefit from education. However, an alternative view is to consider the larger social processes, in particular, the school-level characteristics that might impinge upon parent involvement in schools. Such school-level characteristics are more able to be manipulated by teachers and administrators, and thus permit more dynamic considerations of the influences on student achievement.

Some schools seem able to promote parent involvement, while others do not. Feuerstein asks, 'What accounts for the differences?'

In answer, he first refers to Bourdieu's theory of 'cultural capital', where teachers are drawn from the middle and upper social classes, and schools represent and reproduce middle or upper class values and forms of communication. Indicators of cultural capital in the school setting include:

the amount of interaction a parent has with other parents
parents' understanding of school processes
the amount of contact parents have with school personnel
parents' communication skills.

(From Lareau, 1987, cited in Feuerstein, 2000)

A related concept is 'social capital', which, in a school context, refers to the social networks available to parents that enhance a student's ability to benefit from educational opportunities (Coleman, 1988, cited in Feuerstein, 2000). Schools have social structures that influence student achievement, with some schools having stronger relationships with families than other schools, and observable differences between schools that serve working class communities (controlled by school administration) and schools that serve wealthy (more participatory control) communities.

Feuerstein attempts to identify what features under the control of school communities could increase parent involvement in schools in order to move away from relatively intractable influences such as socioeconomic status or class. He says that proactive contact by the school (even in response to behaviour problems) is most likely to make a difference. Increasing the number of contacts that the school has with parents appears to stimulate parent volunteerism.

Feuerstein concludes that, even though cultural capital and social capital are strong influences on parent involvement, it may not be impossible to further stimulate parent involvement by changes at the school level. 'Schools can and do influence the level of parent participation in their children's education.' (p. 45)