Educação, diversidade e adversidade: a relação entre família e escola de alunos da rede pública de Belo Horizonte em 2008

Abstract

In the process of democratization of the formal education in Brazil is noted an overlapping of the roles of the school and the family, generating debates about the relationship between these institutions and their effects on the development of children. The incentives for further strengthening of this relationship are increasing in several Brazilian municipalities and are accompany by social and demographic changes that alters the school and family context. Therefore, is important to discuss about the conditions and provisions of each family to keep up with the education of children so that they are not elaborate around practices and policies of an idealized model. The present study aims to identify how the morphological aspects of family -and background- and positional dynamic aspects and family practices, behave on the activities involving the education of the child, such as monitoring homework, studies, among other incentives. The data analyzed are of Municipal and State schools of Belo Horizonte and families of middle and lower strata of the population. The analysis in this paper indicates that the socioeconomic status is still one of the most influential factors in student performance, even among lower classes and the same network. However, there is a decrease of this influence throughout the period of schooling. The study also identifies how the relationship of parents with the school has significant effects on student performance. The results highlight that the homework is a relevant factor that reflects the family context of distribution of roles among the parents as the relevance that this tool has in the relationship between family and school. The evidence is that the mothers have the greatest influence in the upbringing of children in various family arrangements and even those mothers that have restricted cultural and material resources are engaged in the education of the children. Furthermore, they indicate that knowledge of the school system and the choice of schools other than those designated in the school by parents register affects a student's school life, showing how the school system still is heterogeneous in school effectiveness.The study identifies the need for greater gender equity among parents in the education of the children and greater support for mothers in single-parent family arrangements. Is highlight the importance of investing in cultural assets that allow the student to develop his knowledge outside of school with more autonomy, notably access to the computer with the internet. Finally, observes that there are opportunities to involve the family in education with cultural and recreational activities sponsored by the school.