Abstract

The notion of parental involvement in schooling has been one the key topics in the educational research and policy reforms of the last thirty years. Since the beginning it has been at the centre of a highly consensual and optimistic debate. The shared premise was the idea the policy of family-school partnership was a most effective means for reducing cultural distances between the families and the school and improving the quality of children’s schooling as well as the equality of educational opportunities. But too often “in championing the virtues of parent involvement in schooling, and promoting techniques for increasing it, researchers have neglected the more basic question of why social class so affects parental involvement” (Lareau 2000). The aim of this talk is to critically discuss how the policy of parental involvement has affected the relationship of working-class parents with the primary school. The base for the discussion will be provided by a qualitative research on the school experience of Italian urban working-class families.