Understanding low income urban black families' perceptions of education
Date
2007
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This qualitative study describes the attitudes and actions of low income inner city Black families regarding educational aspirations for their children. This research is different from previous research in that it accounts for the role that the grandparent, specifically the grandmother, plays in shaping and guiding educational goals. Prior research suggests that the extended family and elders are uniquely important to Black families (Stack, 1979). Though there are many research studies focusing on the educational aspirations of youth, little if any research has examined the multi generational aspect of educational goal setting and the strategies that parents and grandparents employ to steer their children toward the goal. The research seeks to challenge part of the misinterpreted Culture of Poverty Theory and uses the ecological model to illuminate the multi generational attitudes of low income inner city Black families toward education.