Attitudes to schooling by working-class parents : an empirical analysis

Abstract

Studies carried out about working-class children frequently show that there is a greater tendency for these children to perform poorly at school. The blame is normally given to working-class parents and their attitude towards schooling. This dissertation attempts to find out what the Maltese working-class parents think of schooling. It examines the local view on the importance of schooling for one's success in life, the parents' academic aspirations for their children, whether schooling was relevant to life and if as a consequence deferred gratification was accepted as a major motivator for academic work. The study also examined the parental attitude towards school authority. Apart from the research conducted amongst 90 Maltese working-class families during 1991, each chapter is supported by research from various literature sources. The research also gives evidence of what could be the root-causes of these attitudes, and to which extent these attitudes affect working-class children.