| An impressive body of educational research, theory, and opinion has been published on the plight of working-class children in American schools. It has been asserted by critical theorists that schools operate as gatekeepers to the future social, political, and economic success of working-class students by denying them the types of knowledge and level of literacy necessary to reap these rewards. Crucial to a critical perspective is exposure of oppressive structures and activism to ameliorate them. While parental pressure has the potential to influence educational reforms, working-class parents have historically been less involved in their children's education than their upper-class counterparts.;Framed by a critical theory paradigm, the purpose of this study was to take the literature to working-class parents in order to learn their values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding literacy and education in general, including those related to power, conformity, and authority. These views were assessed both before and after this exposure in order to learn parents' perspectives before researcher-participant interaction. Of particular interest was ascertaining how such exposure affects parents' opinions of how schools can better meet the needs of their children and their perceptions of their role in the process of change.;The main methodology for data collection was a focus group of eight white parents from the working classes, which met for a series of five two-hour discussion sessions. Prior to the focus group segment of the research, home visits/individual interviews involving 20 working-class parents were completed, from which focus group participants were recruited.;The home observations/individual interviews and focus group discussions were analyzed separately. Thematic analysis using analytic induction was the main strategy in each of these analyses. A second analytic strategy employed in both analyses was an analysis of sociocultural mediation, ways in which individuals mediate social institutions, using a three-stage problem-solving model as analytic instrument.;Identified were: ways that working-class identity impacts attitudes towards education and literacy, needed reforms in working-class schools, a disconnection between school and home literacy and language, ways in which parents, students, and teachers unconsciously play host to the system, and factors in involving working-class parents in reform initiatives. |
