Child Development and Education in the Context of Family

Abstract

Children’s development is a paramount concern of families and is also deeply influenced by them. Chapter 6, therefore, looks at child development and education in the context of family, beginning by first examining the form and function of families. As a ‘unity of interacting personalities’, a family enculturates children and needs to be supported towards this. Children’s education begins at home and most families prepare children to enter school, to varying degrees, and also support them at home as they begin school. The socio-economic status (SES) of the family affects the kind of educational service they are able to access for their children. It is also important for the school to respond and adapt to the family background of the students, especially by establishing community linkages, partnering with the families and foregrounding the funds of knowledge that children bring with them. Middle-class families not only exercise greater educational choice but also engage intensely with their children’s education, leading to a churning in the ‘educational market’. They seek to advantage their children through cultural capital enhanced by the ‘concerted cultivation’ they practice, which does indeed reflect in higher educational outcomes. Middle-class parenting styles become the gold standard; in comparison, other groups and cultures are unjustly viewed as lacking child-rearing skills. Parental anxieties and stress naturally affect children too. A supportive relationship that builds on children’s agency and their growing capabilities can help parents ensure children’s cognitive and social-emotional development at home.