Parental involvement in rural Anhui Province: Coping with the burden of guanxi

Abstract

The cultivation of strong family-school partnerships has become widely viewed as an important strategy and policy tool to improve rural students’ educational outcomes. However, research shows that parents, especially those from rural areas, are less likely to participate in schools. This study tries to understand the barriers to parents’ participation in school-related activities and why they feel disenfranchised from schools. It conceptualizes parental participation in schools as a social capital process. The process of how rural families manage to establish social networks with their schools is investigated through a qualitative study of Zong, a rural county in Central China. By analyzing six cases, this chapter provides an ethnographic study of the role of guanxi in hindering parental participation in their children’s schools.

Parental Involvement in Anhui: Coping with the Burden of Guanxi.