Implications and Conclusions

Abstract

AbstractThis concluding chapter presents readers with new understandings of parental influences on students’ cultural participation in the contemporary Chinese context, considering the social and cultural contexts of Beijing and Hong Kong. Given the close relationship between parental cultural capital and support proven in this study, the book attempts to raise readers’ and educators’ concerns about how students’ cultural participation is related to their sociocultural background—more specifically, their familial social status. Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital has been an influential theoretical framework for numerous studies; however, it does not articulate how parental cultural capital influences students’ cultural participation, nor how participation in cultural activities and the possession of cultural knowledge advantages students’ academic excellence, in relation to social factors. By setting out this book’s findings and arguments concerning parental cultural capital, support, and students’ music learning, this chapter advances and supplements Bourdieu’s understanding of parental influence on students’ cultural participation in the contemporary Chinese context. It also contributes to our knowledge of the influence and importance of parental cultural capital for students’ cultural disposition, and possible processes for the intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge and tastes, with consideration of legitimate cultures in Chinese society and how students acquire academic advantages through participation in cultural activities and musical disposition.Students’ perceptions of parental influence demonstrate that parents, school educators (including school music teachers) and instrument tutors impact students’ music activities and are significant to students’ musical learning. Regarding the inequality of parental cultural capital, this chapter addresses the implications of this study and makes recommendations on how collaboration among parents, instrument instructors, and school educators could provide a more comprehensive and collective support network to enhance students’ cultural development, despite existing inequalities in education.KeywordParental influencesCultural capitalParental SupportSocial statusMusical dispositionParentsSchool educatorsInstrument tutorsBeijingHong Kong