| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationship between social class and parental agency. It does so through an analysis of the findings of a recently completed qualitative research project exploring parental voice in relation to secondary schools. The first part of the paper presents a summary of a typology of parental interventions. This illustrates some of the differentials between parents in terms of their access to and deployment of a range of social, cultural and material resources, all of which translates into varying levels of effectiveness in finding and using a voice in their relationship with their children's school. The second part of the paper focuses on the middle-class parents at both schools, suggesting that more nuanced differences in their attitudes to various educational issues (namely discipline and appropriate parental involvement) are closely linked to the class fractions which they belong. It is argued that, despite the broad title of 'middleclass', variations within this general grouping in parental education, occupational pathways and spatial mobility affect their approaches to the education of their children. |
