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.
Highlights
En este trabajo se utiliza el concepto de "capital cultural" de la teoría de Pierre Bourdieu y su objetivo es, por un lado para investigar las similitudes y diferencias entre el capital cultural institucionalizado y objetivado de padres nativos e inmigrantes de estudiantes de la escuela primaria estatal en Grecia y en por otro lado para correlacionar estas dos formas de capital cultural con sus expectativas para el futuro educativo de sus hijos
From the study of scientific literature we conclude that the cases of families with an immigrant background and native families have been widely detected, a fact which can be seen through the presentation of the following scientific papers in the form of thematic categorization: a) parents‟ involvement in the educational processes of schools which could be characterized as multicultural because of the composition of their student population (Levine-Rasky, 2009; Seyfried & Chung, 2002; Turney & Kao, 2009), b) the practices which immigrant parents adopt concerning the school achievement of their children (Bodovski, 2010; Toldson & Lemmons, 2013), and c) the influence of the socio-economic status of the family on the educational expectations of parents for their children (Koo, 2012; Räty, 2006; Räty, Leinonen, & Snellman, 2002)
The „objectified‟ cultural capital of native and immigrant families, which is manifest in works of art, bookcases, kinds of books which exist in a bookcase as well as in the existence of musical instruments at home, seem to vary between research subjects
Summary
The research findings showed that the majority of parents (natives and immigrants) possess cultural goods in their house, which, are differentiated according to their national origin and their educational and occupational level. Native parents with a high educational and occupational level possessed „strong‟ objectified cultural capital, since there were works of art in their houses (such as paintings of the saints and copies of the paintings of well-known and lesser-known artists), a great number of bookcases with various kinds of books (literature books, school textbooks, school aids, university textbooks, documents, encyclopedias, dictionaries and foreign books), as well as different kinds of musical instruments (such as guitar, piano, bass, percussion and flute). The following extract from an interview with a parent with a high educational and occupational level is indicative: There are copies of works of art. Greek parents of socio-culturally privileged families seem to possess the permanent and durable predispositions needed to approach a cultural good effectively (Bourdieu, 1979; Lamnias, 2001, p. 158)
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