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ERIC Number: EJ1367602
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Feb
Pages: 32
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0195-6744
EISSN: EISSN-1549-6511
Happiness-Oriented Parents: An Alternative Perspective on Privilege and Choosing Schools
Debs, Mira; Kafka, Judith; Makris, Molly Vollman; Roda, Allison
American Journal of Education, v129 n2 p145-176 Feb 2023
Purpose: Research on privileged parents, defined here as those with the economic, social, and educational resources to navigate school choice processes to their advantage, often depicts such parents as anxious about maintaining social mobility, leading them to "opportunity hoard" desirable or academically competitive schools in ways that exclude other families. In contrast, we identify a subset of privileged parents in urban settings that we term "happiness-oriented parents" who seek schools that prioritize their child's social-emotional happiness. Research Methods: Using a qualitative meta-analysis combining seven studies conducted by the authors in New York City; Hartford, Connecticut; and a small East Coast city between 2012 and 2021, we reanalyzed interview data from semistructured interviews with 106 privileged parents who have the ability to access and navigate a range of school choice options. Findings: We found a happiness orientation in a diverse group of privileged parents (40% identified as Black, Latinx, Asian American, or multiracial, and the remaining 60% were white). Although these parents were choosing a range of school options in different contexts and they identified different criteria as important to cultivating happiness, they consistently (1) centered happiness, (2) chose for social-emotional and noncompetitive academic factors, and (3) saw this choice as different from the norm. Implications: In identifying this repeated but understudied phenomenon, we consider that happiness-oriented parents' choices might affect a range of education policy changes and outcomes. In the case of our studies, we examine the potential of these parents as allies in school integration efforts.
University of Chicago Press. Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chicago, IL 60637. Tel: 877-705-1878; Tel: 773-753-3347; Fax: 877-705-1879; Fax: 773-753-0811; e-mail: subscriptions@press.uchicago.edu; Web site: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/aje/about
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York (New York); Connecticut (Hartford)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A