While a body of research currently exists on parental involvement in Ireland (see Byrne and Smyth 2010; Lyons et al., 2003), a number of neglected questions remain embedded in the complex relations between ethnicity, social class and education. In this paper, we explore the educational perspectives, strategies and experiences of ethnic minority parents in relation to the body of research on the educational strategies of White Irish parents. In doing so, the paper contributes to theorizing about gender, race, ethnicity and social class in education, and identifies the complexities of ad-vantage and disadvantage which are played out as ethnic minority families support their children through schooling and into Higher Education (HE). Previous studies in the US and UK have considered the issue of parental involvement, and how race and ethnicity plays out in educational settings (see for example Rollock et al., 2015; Bhopal 2016 in the UK, Robinson and Harris 2014 in the US). Yet these issues remain unexplored in the Irish context. The paper will draw on a mixed-method approach, involving new qualitative data collection and secondary data analysis of the Growing up in Ireland study – the nationally representative longitudinal study of children. New qualitative data will be collected from 30 minority ethnic parents across different school sectors (primary and secondary) in the Republic of Ireland. The interviews will be used to explore the factors that facilitate and constrain parents in supporting their children to navigate the education system. Quantitative data from the Growing up in Ireland study will also be used to disentangle the complex relations between ethnicity, social class and parental involvement. The findings suggest that there are structural issues that inhibit parental involvement. Key-words: parental involvement, ethnicity, race, Ireland

Bhopal, K. (2016). ‘Race, education and inequality’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 37(3), 488-497. Byrne, D., & Smyth, E. (2010). Behind the Scenes? A study of parental involvement in post-primary education, Dublin: The Liffey Press in association with the Economic and Social Research Institute. Lyons, M., Lynch, K., Close, S., Sheerin, E. & Boland, P. (2003). Inside Classrooms: The Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in Social Context. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration. Robinson, K., & Harris, A. 2014. The Broken Compass: Parental Involvement with Children’s Educa-tion. Harvard: Harvard University Press. Rollock, N., Gillborn, D., & Vincent, C. (2015). The colour of class: the educational strategies of the Black Middle Classes. Abingdon: Routledge.