ABSTRACT
Parental involvement in their children's schooling is well acknowledged. However, the extent to which it occurs is diverse by the families’ education and ethnic backgrounds. Based on a Household Survey of Israel, which is a long-term survey of its kind, ranging from 2012 to 2017, several parents’ practices were examined for Jews and Arabs’ academic and nonacademic parents. The findings showed that parental involvement is a contextual phenomenon indicating that the most disadvantaged group, non-academic Israeli Arabs, appeared to be less involved in their children's elementary schooling. However, as their children started to grow up, these parents held higher academic expectations for them, compared to when they were younger. It seems that less educated parents find ways to be involved in their children's schooling in order to enable them better life chances. Further, referring to only one social dimension- ethnicity or socio-economic- does not always pinpoint parental involvement. In different social groups, the presence of family is converted differently to how parents engage in their children's schooling. The implications of this study are discussed for children who possess less, or lack parental support to lean on.
