Cultural capital and educational expectations of native and immigrant parents of primary school students: a qualitative study

Authors

  • Gerasimos S. Koustourakis University of Patras
  • Anna Asimaki University of Patras
  • Georgia Spiliopoulou University of Patras

https://doi.org/10.17583/rise.2016.1892

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Abstract

This paper uses the concept of ‘cultural capital’ from the theory of Pierre Bourdieu and it aims on the one hand to investigate the similarities and differences between the institutionalized and objectified cultural capital of native and immigrant parents of state primary school students in Greece and on the other hand to correlate these two forms of cultural capital with their expectations for the educational future of their children. The research was conducted during the spring semester of 2014 with the use of semi-structured interviews, in which 20 parents (10 native and 10 immigrant) of children in the 6th grade of primary schools in the city of Patras participated. The results of this study showed that there were more differences than similarities between these two categories of parents and they are mainly focused on cultural goods which exist in their house as well as on cultural activities of family members during their spare time. The educational expectations of the sum total of parents of students regardless of national origin and educational level seem to be very high. It also emerged that educational level and occupation of parents is correlated to their specific expectations for the educational future of their children.

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Author Biographies

Gerasimos S. Koustourakis, University of Patras

Dr. Gerasimos Koustourakis is Associate Professor in Sociology of Education and School Knowledge at Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education in the University of Patras, Greece.

Anna Asimaki, University of Patras

Dr. Anna Asimaki is an Assistant Professor in Sociology of Education at the Department of Primary Education of the University of Patras, Greece.

Georgia Spiliopoulou, University of Patras

Georgia Spiliopoulou is Kindergarten Teacher, M.Ed. and Ph.D student in the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education of the University of Patras, Greece.

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Published

2016-10-25

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Koustourakis, G. S., Asimaki, A., & Spiliopoulou, G. (2016). Cultural capital and educational expectations of native and immigrant parents of primary school students: a qualitative study. International Journal of Sociology of Education, 5(3), 166–189. https://doi.org/10.17583/rise.2016.1892

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