The involvement of families in the academic care: the case of Valencia (Spain)
Author(s):
Piedad Sahuquillo (presenting / submitting) Paz Cánovas Roser Grau Vidal Roser Grau
Conference:
ECER 2014
Network:
14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Format:
Poster

Session Information

14 SES 06 A, Interactive Poster Session

Poster Session

Time:
2014-09-03
15:30-17:00
Room:
Poster Area E (in front of B001-B003)
Chair:
Joana Lúcio

Contribution

This work is developed in the framework of the research project "Family Practices and Joint Responsibility: Analysis of proposed educational strategies for the reconciliation of personal, family, social and work settings. EDU 2009-10250 I + D "(IP M ª Rosa Buxarrais). The research has been developed in Catalonia and in the Valencian Community (Spain), although in this case we present the results related to the Valencian Community.

There is a high degree of agreement in the sense that both school and family have in their hands the challenge of educating children, so collaboration between the two agencies is essential to contribute to their overall development and, in a broader sense, improve the quality of education (Moreno, 2001).

Alongside this, we agree with Noddings (2003) that education is an ethical relationship and, as interpersonal encounter, is a possibility for the care and it involves the whole person because it is the participation in a relationship that involves the complete acceptance of the other.

In the same way, Beauvoir (1963) argued that humans need of others, we need to be recognized, and we need that others give meaning to our actions and our projects. The human subject is a connected being and the fate of some is not alien to the fate of others. This is especially evident in the early years of a person, where both the family and the school are especially relevant and involved in their development.

In this paper we argue that the academic care within the family is essential for the family-school relationship (so important to the welfare of children) to be positive and smooth. That is why we wanted to know if mothers and fathers are involved in making decisions about the education of their children and to what extent children turn to them when they have a problem.

Thus, the main objective was to analyze the type of responsibility that parents take in relation to the school, in turn, we intend to detect their level of involvement in the academic development and training of their sons/daughters. Furthermore, in order to know the involvement of adults in such an important context for the experiences that their children live, we have tried to analyze problems or controversial situations which are peculiar, delving into important aspects such as whether  they do the homework with their children, who attends to a school meeting, who watches for the timetable of the child, who supports the child in the search of material for the preparation of school activities and what is the adults’ response to a conflict at school when their child is involved.

Method

In the research we have used complementary and interrelated methodologies, a multimethod process in which qualitative and quantitative methodological strategies, that meet the research objectives, are combined. We can clearly differentiate two phases corresponding to the research objectives: a first quantitative phase and a second phase that has deepened the analysis through a qualitative methodology. The first phase (from which we present data in this paper) was aimed at the diagnostic analysis of reality and sought to know the map of underlying values of family practices, in relation to the conciliation, in urban areas of the Catalonian and Valencian communities. Population and sample The population from which the sample has been selected is formed by parents of children who are between 0 and 12 years old from urban populations. For the choice of cities, provincial capitals and significant cities were considered. In this way one could ensure a representative sample of the different types of family. In the case of Catalonia, a sample of 471 subjects was obtained which allowed us to talk about its representation and, at the same time, work to estimate statistical parameters in relation to the population. With respect to the Valencian Community, the sample was made up of a total of 369 people. Survey Design A group of experts (the research team) was established. After several meetings, this group decided to rethink the type of instrument used in the first phase. The theoretical construct underlying the survey questions focused from the ethics of care, meets the dimensions of conciliation considered by the research team. A. - Housekeeping. B. - Academic Care C. - Affective Care D. - Moral Care E. - Couple Relationship F. - Physical Care G. - Leisure H. - Social Care Design and validation of the instrument A pilot test was conducted by interviewing 20 mothers and fathers, to identify which items could generate distortion in the results, either due to the wording or to the interpretation of the subjects. From the analysis of the first results any distorting items were removed and the order and wording of others was changed, ensuring the correct understanding. The stage of the survey design finished with this process. The survey was finally formed by 57 items.

Expected Outcomes

Mothers are more likely to help with homework and they are also the ones who check their children’s diary more often, but quite close to their couple data. Alongside this, regardless of the educational level all parents often look at their children’s school diary. Mothers tend to go more to the school meetings. Those parents who are jointly involved in the education of their children are much less affected by problems in the relationship with him/her. Both women and men reported to consistently talk about the education of their children. In general, women and men claim to talk to their couple, systematically, about the education of their children, not only when there is a conflict. Parents often argue before making a decision when there is not a previous agreement. They do not directly delegate the decision to the couple. They reflect with the couple on the number of children to have and education. When they have a higher level of corresponsibility they also have a more broadly satisfaction. When children need something they usually call their mothers. Women are still the ones who provide the most support in the daily monitoring of their children.

References

Alberdi,I ( 2003) “Conciliación entre el trabajo y la responsabilidades familiares de hombres y mujeres”, en La Familia en la sociedad del siglo XXI. Jornadas 17-19 febrero 2003. Libro de ponencias.Fundación de Ayuda contra la Drogadicción. Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales. Comunidad de Madrid y Ayuntamiento de Madrid. Beauvoir, S. (1963) L’Existentialisme et la sagesse des nations. Paris: Nagel. Cette, G. et al. (2005) “Conciliation entre vies professionnelle et familiale et renoncements´´a l´´ enfant” Revue de l´ OFCE. Janvier Chinchilla,N. et al (2003) Políticas de conciliación trabajo-familia en 150 empresas españolas. Documento de Investigación del IESE. Cifre Gallego,E. et al. (2004) “Estrategias de conciliación familia/trabajo: buscando la calidad de vida” Revista de Trabajo y Seguridad Social .Recursos Huumanos, octubre,259 Ehrhardt,U. (1996) Estrategias para madres que trabajan: como armonizar el trabajo con la vida familiar. Barcelona, Oasis. EUROSTAT (2005) Conciliation entre vie professionnelle et vie familiale: des ´´ecarts entre les femmes et les hommes. Statistiques en bref. Population et conditions sociales. 4/2005 Gómez, S. et al. (2004) La incorporación de la mujer al mercado laboral: implicaciones personales, familiares y profesionales, y medidas estructurales de conciliación trabajo-familia. Documento de investigación del IESS, 557. Instituto de la Mujer (2001) Guía de buenas prácticas para conciliar la vida familiar y profesional. Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales López, Mª T. y Valiño, A. (2004) Conciliación familiar y laboral en la Unión Europea: valoración de las políticas públicas. Madrid, Consejo Económico y Social. Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales ( 2005) Estudio sobre la conciliación de la vida laboral: situación actual, necesidades y demandas Moreno, M. (2001) Colaboración escuela-familias: análisis de una experiencia de escuela de padres en el I.E.S Torreblanca de Sevilla durante el curso 1998/99, en REOP, 12, 22, 341-353. Noddings, N. (2033) Hapiness and education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Romero, Mª. J. et al. (2009) La conciliación de la vida laboral, familiar y personal colectiva de Castilla-La Mancha. Albacete, Bomarzo. Sargadoy,J.A. (2004) La conciliación entre trabajo y familia. Madrid, Cinca. Torns, T. et al. (2005) “Tiempos de trabajo, una aproximación desde la conciliación” en Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, julio 2005. Madrid, Universidad Complutense. VARIOS AUTORES (2004) Conciliar trabajo y familia: un reto para el siglo XXI. Pamplona, EUNSA. Vázquez, V. y López Francés, I. (2011) La Ética del Cuidado permite construir un Currículo escolar que no ensalza la independencia ni la violencia. Bajo palabra. Revista de Filosofía. Nº 6, 167-172.

Author Information

Piedad Sahuquillo (presenting / submitting)
University of Valencia (Spain), Spain
Paz Cánovas
Universidad de Valencia
Teoría de la Educación
Valencia
Roser Grau Vidal
Universitat de València
Educació Comparada i Història de l'Educació
Valencia
Roser Grau
University of Valencia (Spain), Spain

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