Abstract:
It is well documented that children of middle-class parents generally do better at school than their working-class peers and despite increases in school retention rates in Australia, this remains the case. Social reproduction theories are used to describe this phenomenon. Social reproduction theory assumes that a family's class position is generally fixed by early adulthood, based on the occupation and education and associated values and attitudes acquired by the parents-to-be. But what happens when social class becomes more fluid, and parents markedly raise their educational status after their children are born? Do the children inherit their old level of cultural capital or the new?
Empirical studies demonstrate a large indirect relationship between home environment and mathematical achievement and conclude that ways are needed to improve the home environment because the benefits for children's mathematical achievements are potentially quite large. In this paper case studies of women with children who have returned to study mathematics in the further education sector are presented. Interview data from both the adult students and their children provide evidence of a synergistic relationship in the intellectual development of women and their children.
Empirical studies demonstrate a large indirect relationship between home environment and mathematical achievement and conclude that ways are needed to improve the home environment because the benefits for children's mathematical achievements are potentially quite large. In this paper case studies of women with children who have returned to study mathematics in the further education sector are presented. Interview data from both the adult students and their children provide evidence of a synergistic relationship in the intellectual development of women and their children.