Lives Disrupted: Exploring and Understanding the Lived Experience of Parents/guardians of First-generation Students in a Jesuit High School Setting
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Authors
Liberotti, Gina
Issue Date
2020-08-10
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The positive impact of parent/guardian engagement on a child’s educational experience along all points of the educational pipeline is well documented. Level of parent/guardian engagement is linked to parent income and education level. In turn, level of formal education impacts access to resources, channels of information, and the availability and effective use of social capital. Engagement of parent/guardians of first generation students has been studied in the public school and post-secondary arena but what is missing is the examination of the experience of engagement of parents/guardians of first-generation students as a function of social capital in the private, Jesuit secondary school setting. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how 18 parents/guardians of first-generation students experienced and perceived engagement in their student’s educational experience as a function of social capital. Ethical leadership informed by the Ignatian charism of cura personalis and employment of the Best Interests of the Student framed this phenomenological study. The primary findings suggest that parents/guardians of first-generation students experience disruption of their education for many reasons, and that they engage in their student’s high school experience by participating in home-based behaviors such as explicit expectations about college attendance, talking about the value of a college education, talking about homework and grades, and taking the student to school commitments. Findings also suggest that barriers to school-centric engagement include work schedules, socioeconomic status, and language.
Keywords: Parents/guardians first-generation students, engagement, social capital, ethical leadership, Best Interest of the Student, cura personalis, Jesuit secondary schools
Description
Citation
Publisher
Creighton University
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Copyright is retained by the Author. A non-exclusive distribution right is granted to Creighton University and to ProQuest following the publishing model selected above.