How upper-middle-class Canadian parents conceptualize the transmission of advantages to their children
Keywords:
Children upbringing, childhood, cultural capital, education in Canada, parents, model, post-materialist values, upper middle class, privilegeAbstract
By means of 42 interviews applied to upper-middle-class Canadian parents, this research project examines the way they understand the transmission of advantages, and how such understanding shapes their children´s upbringing. The author finds out that these parents do not consider economic capital as the most important resource, nor they stress the importance of seeking a higher cultural status. On the contrary, they emphasize the importance of exposing their children to new and diverse experiences and cultures, supporting the kids’ interests, and being good models to them. According to these parents, this approach not only promotes broader and more cosmopolitan cultural competences, but also develops character. Economic resources are perceived as a consequence, since they allow parents to encourage the development of such qualities and values. The author sets these findings in an educational context in Canada, and concludes her article by questioning the potentially post-materialist and cultural origin of the interviewees’ understanding of social reproduction processes.
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