Curriculum orientations and their role in parental involvement among immigrant parents

Abstract

The current study is based on interviews with 19 immigrant parents from Eastern European countries, whose children attend elementary schools in the province of Ontario, Canada. It uses the concept of curriculum orientations (academic rationalism, social efficiency, humanism and social reconstruction) to explore the connections between parental satisfaction with school and their involvement in children's education. I found that interviewed parents were split between supporters of academic rationalism and the blend of social efficiency and humanism. Parents who adopted social efficiency and humanism were satisfied with their children's education and followed normative school‐based involvement. Parents who preferred academic rationalism were not happy with their children's school and expected more emphasis on academic development. They were mostly active at home and faced difficulty communicating with teachers. Mismatch in curriculum orientations of immigrant parents and host country teachers results in additional barriers to their parental involvement and might shape such involvement in profound ways.