Main determinants of immigrant families’ involvement and participation in school life / Principales determinantes de la implicación y participación de las familias inmigrantes en la escuela

Abstract

This work is focused on deepening our understanding of family actions when participating in school life and of the intensity of their involvement with the school work that their children perform, or should perform, at home. Specifically, this study examines whether there is a relationship between family participation and involvement, what are the situations that characterize the differential performance of fathers and mothers; an analysis is also carried out of each situation to identify which elements determine their participation or involvement behaviour. To this end, the sample consisted of 279 subjects from Latin America with children enrolled in the fifth or sixth grades of primary education. The results show that involvement and participation are independent phenomena, that mothers are more involved and participate more in their children’s school life, and that the elements determining these two actions are different for both mothers and fathers.