Parental involvement of Eastern European immigrant parents in Canada: whose involvement has capital?

This study focuses on the parental involvement among Eastern European immigrant parents of elementary school students in Canada. Interviewed parents (N + 19) were educated in several Eastern European countries and had children attending elementary schools in the province of Ontario at the time of the study. The analysis was informed by the concepts of social and cultural capital developed by Pierre Bourdieu. It was found that Eastern European immigrant parents see their role supporting children mainly in the home by emphasizing academic achievement and extracurricular activities. Despite high levels of cultural capital there was a variation in the amount of social capital available to immigrant parents. Those who managed to recreate rich social networks in the new country communicated with teachers more successfully and were satisfied with school.