The (re)production of (dis)advantage: class-based variations in parental aspirations, strategies and practices in relation to children’s primary education

Abstract

The impact of family background on academic achievement, educational trajectories and life chances more generally has been a point of interest among academics for many years. The issue has been researched both quantitatively and qualitatively, with the two traditions generating quite different pictures of family-level ‘variables’ and processes related to child outcomes and boarder inequalities in education. This paper presents evidence of how parenting aspirations, strategies and practices vary according to social class gradients and work together in a holistic way to (re)produce social advantage and disadvantage during the primary school years.