HKIER

摘要

本文嘗試探討如何透過家長參與，調動家庭與學校的「文化資本」及「社會資本」促進學生的學習。西方社會近年的教育改革的發現，家長是重要的教育資源，有效地調動這寶貴資源，將有助促進及改善個別學生的學業成績、自尊感及學生行為，更可提高整體學校效能。香港及亞洲等地從教育行政及教育社會學的角度來進行「家長參與子女教育」的研究甚少，最近香港中文大學完成的學校效能研究發現：學生的家庭背景是影響學生學習的最重要因素，研究學者更建議香港需要更廣泛地開展家校合作的研究及實踐工作。

就傳統的教育社會學而言，父母參與子女的教育往往存在明顯的社會階層差異，這差異通常以兩種理論解釋：從個人層面理解的「家庭缺失論」與從制度層面批判的「教育機構歧視論」。本文旨在剖析這兩種理論所包含的邏輯，並採用布德奧（Bourdieu）的「文化資本」及科爾曼（Coleman）的「社會資本」概念，分析家庭及學校因素如何影響低下階層家長對子女教育的參與程度；並比較不同類型的資本（capital）對學生學習成效的影響。本文試圖探討在以往研究中，採用這些理念的一些弱點與限制，並嘗試採用這些概念來研究香港的家長在調動家庭資源及家校合作上與學生學業成效的關係，從而對香港與亞洲開展對家長參與的政策及研究，提出幾點建議。

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of parental involvement in the activation of cultural and social capital, which in turn affect children's learning outcomes. Over the past two decades, growing evidence in Western countries has shown that promoting parental involvement has significant benefits in mobilizing essential cultural and social resources for enhancing students' achievement, improving self-esteem, bettering students? behavior and learning habits, and lowering students' absenteeism and dropout rate. Parent represents a potentially cost-effective resource for public education, yet remains largely untapped especially in the Hong Kong and Asian educational systems. Recent school effectiveness study conducted in Hong Kong by Lo et al. (1996) also suggested that, in the light of the persistent effect of family social background on children's achievement, more work on home-school cooperation should be initiated in Hong Kong. Yet little has been done to investigate the concepts of cultural capital and social capital and appropriate these concepts in examining the nature and impact of parental involvement.

This paper provides insight useful to academics who are concerned with the potential application of Bourdieu’s concept of "cultural capital" and Coleman's concept of "social capital" in home-school studies. It also offers practical knowledge to policy makers, teachers, and parents in formulating policies and practices that would maximize the kinds of home and school resources for children's education.