Knowledge about family and school contributions in academic achievement:The context of schooling and social representations in India

Abstract

The present paper seeks to identify the social representations of the family and school contribution in students' academic achievement. Earlier studies have taken family and school contribution in terms of taken for granted causal factors but how they are embedded in our everyday understanding and interactions may provide an alternative perspective. The qualitative methodology of content and correspondence analysis of categorical data derived from interviews and written responses from parents, teachers and students are utilized. It is discussed that family and school contributions are not just representations as portrayed in the dominant theories but its notions depend upon the identities and roles people are conscious.However, people think in a context which may further have shaped by the interaction patterns, so, social representations becomes not some stagnant appropriations but crosses the boundaries of mainstream understanding. Thus family and school contributions comprise multidimensional pictures and diversified meanings which are not particularly dependent upon the given or generally expected notions of family and school contributions to academic achievement.