Cultural capital and family involvement in children's education: tales from two primary schools in Cyprus

Abstract In this paper, I present the findings of a study which explored teacher‐family collaboration in state primary schools in Cyprus. The research strategy was one of multiple case study, with a sample of seven teachers, their pupils and the pupils' parents. The research approach was ethnographic and the data set reported in this paper includes the data collected from the field of two of the sites. The analysis of the data showed that participant parents, regardless of their background, valued their children's educational success, wanted their children to do well in school, and correspondingly saw themselves as supporting their children in one way or another. The evidence, however, demonstrated a variation in familial perspectives and needs and a considerable distinction in how families of different background used their school contacts. These conclusions draw on Bourdieu's views of cultural capital and seem quite consistent with the findings of other researchers elsewhere. Acknowledgements This paper has been drawn from the author's doctoral thesis entitled 'Teacher–family communication in Cypriot primary schools: a multiple case study'. The author would like to thank his supervisor Prof. Donald I. McIntyre at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, for his thoughtful guidance and supervision.