Family socialization and holistic education: analyzing upper classes’ educational practices

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the educational practices of Portuguese families belonging to upper classes, whose children attend prestigious private schools in Lisbon. This paper examines the diversity of educational strategies, conceived by those families as the best way to assure their children the holistic education required to maintain their status. The results are based n a PhD Thesis about educational success in two prestigious private schools and focus the family contexts of interaction. To find out the heterogeneous set of activities between parents and children – daily ones, but also extra-daily ones – and its hidden purpose of promoting a holistic socialization is the main goal of this article.