Communities and Partnerships
Lifelong Learning Centre
University of Leeds
LS2 9JT o.garvey@leeds.ac.uk
/ e.a.clark@leeds.ac.uk
0113 343 4635 / 0113 343 3229 www.leeds.ac.uk/lifelonglearningcentre.ac.uk
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1 Introduction
2 Methodology
3 Findings
4. Conclusions
5. References
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Despite much anecdotal evidence there is a lack of national research investigating the connection between parents’ learning and young people’s aspirations and attainment. This qualitative study focuses on adults studying in Further Education at
Levels 2 and 3 in areas of socio-economic deprivation who have children aged 14 -
19. It explores how parents’ personal goals are changed both by their return to education and their involvement in aspiration-raising activity and investigates how this influences their hopes for their children. The research also examines the impact of parents’ learning on young people’s own educational ambitions and attainment and considers how this interacts with issues of social capital and social mobility.
The interim findings report outlines the context and methods of the research and presents findings from the first stage; a series of interviews with 14 parents and 7 young people. A second phase of the study is underway and interviews are taking place with a further 15 parents, 10 young people and 6 key influencers in order to expand and corroborate the findings to date. In this phase, the target age range of young people has been expanded from 14-19 to 11-19 in order to examine the impact of parental learning on younger children’s schooling over a longer period.
 What is the impact of parents’ learning on their children’s attainment and aspirations?
 Are there any changes in parents’ aspirations for their children which stem from taking part in widening participation activity?
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 Does this have any impact on young people’s aspirations for themselves?

A number of positive benefits for young people’s education achievements and goals as a result of their parents’ return to learning have begun to emerge.
These include: Parents and young people studying together;
 Young people’s understanding grows as they share their skills and knowledge with their parents;
 Young people’s awareness of learning opportunities grows;

Parents better able to understand homework and support their child’s learning.

Adults who have good educational experiences at any age want more, both for themselves and their children.
 The extent to which a parent’s learning impacts on their child seems to be affected by the child’s age when the parent re-enters education and whether the parent progresses to HE.

The more widening participation (WP) interventions parents receive and the higher the level of education they reach, the greater the benefits for children.

There is a significant variance in parents’ sense of agency in relation to their child’s education and future prospects. Whilst some clearly see it as their responsibility to steer and guide their children, others had a more hands-off attitude, leaving it up to the school and the child them self to decide their path.

Parents be recognised as potential learners in their own right, as well as for their role in their children’s education;

Parents ’ access to information about routes into further study is essential if these mutual benefits are to be maximised.
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Although a wealth of anecdotal evidence exists, there is a lack of national research investigating whether there is a link between adult learning and young pe ople’s aspirations and attainment. An initial literature search has identified a number of empirical studies which suggest a correlation between parental education and highest qualification, and their children’s school attainment. (Holmlund, Lindahl and
Plug, 2008) 1 . Evidence also shows that the children of adults with poor literacy and numeracy skills fare worse than other children in the same classroom (Bynner and
Parsons, 2006) 2 . Furthermore, research by Feinstein et al (2004) 3 has highlighted the importance of parents ’ education in terms of the opportunities which children can access:
The intergenerational transmission of educational success is a key element in equality of opportunity. There are substantial benefits of education that accrue to individuals and society in terms of what education enables parents to pass on to their children.
(Feinstein et al 2004, p. v ) 4
Research also highlights a strong correlation between the aspirations of parents for their children and the attainment and aspirations of the children themselves:
Evidence indicates that parents’ aspirations influence children’s educational achievement above and beyond their socio-economic background.
(Gutman and Akerman 2008, p.15) 5
1 Holmlund, H. Lindahl, M. and Plug, E. (2008), ‘Estimating Intergenerational Schooling Effect: A
Comparison of M ethods’, IZA Discussion Paper, No. 3630.
2 Brynner, J. and Parsons, S. (2006) ‘New light on literacy and numeracy: summary report’, London:
National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy, Numeracy (NDRC)
3 Feinstein, L., Duckworth, K. and Saba tes, R. (2004) ‘A Model of the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Success’ , Wider Benefits of Learning Research Report No. 10. London: Institute of
Education
4 Ibid
5 Gutman, L.M. and Akerman, R. (2008) ‘Determinants of Aspirations’, Wider Benefits of Learning
Research Report No. 27. London: Institute of Education
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It follows then that opportunities for parents to pursue education and participate in aspiration-raising activity could potentially have a positive impact on the aspirations of their children. However, there is a significant omission in current UK literature in terms of empirical evidence on the intergenerational effects of adult learning and what little exists, tends to relate to parents of primary age children.
In particular, the impact of widening participation activity aimed at adults has not been assessed in terms of how it affec ts parents’ input into their children’s learning and the likelihood of these children progressing to higher education. Furthermore, the majority of widening participation initiatives are targeted at young people with the engagement of parents only sought in terms of improving their understanding of HE in order to support their children to make informed choices. Adult aspiration-raising activity engaging parents as learners and potential HE entrants in their own right is rare and little or no analysis has yet been conducted into whether this has an influence on the aspirations of their children.
This qualitative, exploratory study aims to address this gap in existing research and identify the questions to be addressed by a larger-scale quantitative research project. The research explores parent learners’ experiences through semi-structured interviews and aims to develop a body of case studies which could provide a valuable resource for future analyses. The basis for the study has stemmed from evidence gathered through the work of the Realise Project, aspiration-raising activity with adults run by the University of Leeds and originally funded by Aimhigher West
Yorkshire. The study adopts an action research approach, rooted in ongoing work with adult learners in Leeds and a high proportion of research participants were identified at campus events or through courses at the Lifelong Learning Centre.
As outlined above, the literature search to date has highlighted a serious gap in robust evidence of the link between adult learning and young people’s aspirations to
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HE. This is corroborated by anecdotal evidence from our own aspiration-raising project work and the experience of adult education colleagues. Although this link is often regarded as a ‘truth’ with wide acceptance in the field of adult learning and beyond, the current climate makes it imperative to rigorously test this hypothesis.
Gathering a body of empirical evidence from adult learners, their children and a sample of key influencers is a step towards this.
Target Group

The target group was parents from areas of socio-economic deprivation whose highest qualification was a GCSE or equivalent

All the parents interviewed had left school with few or no qualifications and the vast majority had grown up in areas of socio-economic disadvantage

Only one adult interviewed had a parent with experience of Higher
Education
Progress to Date

Research questionnaires were completed by approximately 300 adult learners

32 eligible parents were identified and 14 interviewed; 11 women and 3 men, aged between 36 and 55

7 young people interviewed - 3 female and 4 male aged between 14 - 19
 1 ‘key influencer’ interviewed – Head of Year in Inner City School
Research Questions
1. What is the impact o f parents’ learning on their children’s attainment and aspirations?
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2.
Are there any changes in parents’ aspirations for their children which stem from taking part in widening participation activity?
3. Does this have any impact on young people’s aspirations for themselves?
The following section outlines some of the initial findings, focusing in particular on four recurring themes which emerged in a number of interviews with parents and young people. This is followed by a brief summary of the conclusions to date and their implications for policy and practice. In order to protect the anonymity of the parents and young people interviewed, pseudonyms have been used throughout.
I don’t think they would have the confidence to think that they can do whatever we want if they hadn’t seen me learning.
(Jeanette)
The research to date has uncovered a range of positive benefits for children as a result of their parents
’ return to education. These include:

Parents and young people studying together;

Y oung people’s understanding grows as they share their skills and knowledge with their parents;

Young people
’s awareness of learning opportunities grows;

Parents better able to understand homework and support their child’s learning.
If she’s come home and she’s asked about something and I haven’t been able to answer it, now I know how to find out, which I probably wouldn’t have done before - so it’s helped with that.
(Jeanette)
Parents frequently reported a growing confidence in their own intelligence through studying and reflected on how this gave them the assurance to encourage their child to aim higher:
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It’s actually pushed me to push her with her work….The skills that I’ve learnt have helped me with my own children on a night which has been great.
(Barbara)
The majority of parents interviewed remarked that they were more inclined to encourage their child towards higher education as a result of their own studies. This effect was even more pronounced for parents who had visited the university and found out more about the opportunities available in HE as part of an aspirationraising event.
This research to date has provided clear evidence that adults who have good educational experiences at any age want more, both for themselves and for their children. The overwhelming majority of parents interviewed spoke very positively about their experience of returning to education, despite the fact that many started with low confidence due to negative school experiences and a lack of formal qualifications.
I wasn’t really looking forward to going back into education to be honest with you. I never really had a proper education, so I was very nervous to begin with. But yes I’ve settled, I’ve enjoyed it and I’m going to miss it. It has opened my eyes and I’m even looking at changing my career.
(James)
Many women who had stayed at home to raise children viewed their classes and college work as an opportunity for themselves as individuals, rather than solely as caregivers, and often described it as ‘a bit of me time now’. However, once they had reclaimed that time and begun to make progress in their studies, many reported a renewed sense of confidence in their abilities and wanted to continue:
When she [the FE tutor] told us we had got distinctions I thought ‘I’m not that thick, I got a distinction. I t’s paid off, it’s been hard work but it’s paid off’. I could see myself studying more. It has pushed me to want to do a bit more which i s good, and I think it’s just a building block. It’s like a child learning, they grow in confidence, they achieve and then they want to do more. And it don’t matter how old you get, it’s that same feeling.
(Barbara)
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A number of adults interviewed remarked on the way in which their return to study has encouraged their children to value their own education and to pursue this further than they might otherwise have done. A high proportion of parents were planning or considering further study as a result of the enjoyment they had gained from their current course. Some said their knowledge of learning opportunities had expanded, and described how this widened the range of possibilities open to them and to their children:
I think the real valuable lesson that they learnt from me studying is that if they don’t do well at their GCSEs if they have to do something else, it doesn’t mean the end
… there’s always options… If they make the wrong choices or if they make choices that aren’t going to withstand their entire life then they can always go and do something about it. They can always change their life.
(Jeanette)
As outlined above, a clear and positive impact of parental learning on young people’s aspirations and attainment could be observed in the majority of cases. However, this did not always apply and it became clear that a number of factors influenced the degree of impact on the young person’s education. The extent to which a parent’s learning affects their child seems to be shaped by the child’s age when the parent reenters education. Overall, the impact was more pronounced on children who were at the younger end of the target age range when their mother or father started a college course. This finding corresponds with related research which shows that parental influence declines as children get older 6 .
In one example, 14-year-old Rachel had experienced a number of positive benefits as her mother progressed through a number of courses. These included; supporting each other with homework, deeper discussions about school and college subjects and her mother’s studies opening up areas to her outside of the school curriculum, meaning that she was ahead of her peers in many respects:
6 Masche, J.G. (2010) ‘Explanation of normative declines in parents' knowledge about their adolescent children’, Journal of Adolescence 33, (2) pp. 271-284
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If she hadn’t have done that initial course in philosophy then I would probably have not known so much about it and we wouldn’t have talked so much about that particular subject.
(Rachel, 14)
However, in some families the parent’s return to education and subsequent desire for more for their children has not resulted in the kind of impacts that they hoped for.
In one case, Barbara, a mother of five children ranging in age from 5 to 19, had gained confidence from her own experience of adult learning and was now keen for her 16-year-old son Sam to stay on and do A levels in sixth form. She hoped that he would consider university as an option rather than leaving school straight after his
GCSEs to take up a joinery course. She firmly believed that Sam was capable of succeeding in further studies and staying on in sixth form would give him the opportunity to consider his options for the future:
I’ve said to my husband let’s let him study and educate himself more and mature and work out what he wants to do.
(Barbara)
Bar bara’s husband works as a building contractor and encouraged his son to follow him into a trade. Barbara notes:
M y husband didn’t do GCSEs and A levels but I’ve sat down with him and said
‘I just feel this is wrong and I feel I want him [Sam] to be pushed in A levels and I want him to think what he wants to do, not that you might want him to do what you did ’… but I want him [Sam] to decide what’s right for him.
(Barbara)
Despite his mother’s encouragement to stay on at school, it would appear that his father had the greater influence as Sam eventually decided to pursue a joinery course. In this case, the traditional gender roles of this large family may have played a part in shaping the son’s decision. This demonstrates the variability of parental impact and the external factors which can affect this, even in cases where the parent in education has a clear desire to encourage their child to aim higher.
Other factors which can affect the outcome include the position of the young person in the family (i.e. whether they are an only, eldest, middle or youngest child); whether
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it is a one or two parent household; and the culture of expectations in the family and wider community. The decisions taken by brothers and sisters regarding whether to remain in education at the age of 16 seem to be significant and young people appear to be particularly influenced by older siblings who are NEET 7 and are possibly more likely to fall into this group themselves in the future as a result.
This study has found that the more widening participation interventions parents are involved with and the higher the level of education they progress to, the greater the impact on their children. The research has observed a marked difference between the aspirations of parents who have been engaged in aspiration-raising activity and other adult learners. For those who have not received information on Higher
Education or attended campus events, there is a distinct ‘missing link’ between current learning and their opportunities for progression. Students who had participated in these activities overall showed a far more articulated sense of their own progression and hopes for their children’s futures. The experience of attending the university for a study day had clearly got parents thinking about the opportunities open to their children if they stayed on at school.
Another significant factor is how far the parent pursues their education, and in particular whether they progress to higher education. In the case of those adults who had started a degree or were taking an Access or similar preparatory course, a clear impact on the young person’s aspirations could be observed. One parent commented that the key difference i n her son’s ambitions since she had begun her degree was that his hope that he would one day go to university had become an expectation:
There’s not an ounce of doubt in his mind that he’ll go to uni, it’s always,
‘when I go to uni’…the subject he wants to study keeps changing but what never changes is that, ‘ when I go to uni’ – it’s an automatic progression.
(Amanda)
7 Not in Education, Employment or Training.
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In contrast to this is mother of 5 Lorraine, who has completed a vocational course at her local college and is now working towards a GCSE. Whereas Amanda had been to a number of aspiration-raising events at the university which encouraged her to apply for a degree, Lorraine’s job as a lunchtime supervisor in a school had made it impossible to attend these activities. Her 16 year-old son, Joel had recently been excluded from school and was expecting low grades in his forthcoming GCSEs.
When interviewed together, neither Louise nor Joel believed there had been any particular impact of Lorraine’s studies on her son’s and he said he had initially been unaware that she had started at college. She regarded her college work as completely separate to the children’s schoolwork and when asked if they ever studied together, both laughed and said no, going on to explain that neither of them revise for exams. Another factor could be Joel’s position as the second in the family, given that his older brother had dropped out of sixth form and was not now working or studying. In this case, it seemed that Lorraine’s recent studies were insufficient to halt Joel’s disaffection with education and the fact that her own aspirations had not been affected meant that the impact on her son’s were limited.
Among those adults who had attended aspiration-raising events at the university, a common theme of cumulative impact emerged. The Realise Project at the University of Leeds delivers a programme of outreach visits and campus study-days over the course of the academic year and many adult learners attend multiple events. A common message communicated both through the research interviews and student evaluations of these activities is that initially, the majority of adult learners are disinclined to consider progression to higher education as a realistic option for them.
However, through repeated visits to the campus and involvement in these activities, the perception that university is ‘not for them’ begins to change and the physical environment of the academy becomes normalised. The quote below is from a learner who was studying GCSE Maths at his local college at the time and has now progressed onto a full-time degree:
When they ( Realise project staff ) came into the local college, initially I was very blasé about what they were offering, but one of the things they were offering was a maths day which I attended. And once I got up to the University
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I started to mix with all kinds of people, it was absolutely fantastic. They were very, very inspirational and obviously made me think, would I like some of this, would I like to go into something at university? I attended further two
Maths days which were equally as good. And over time, I gave it more credence and I did actually enquire about going on to further education. At this point I was offered a Preparation for HE course and I’m looking forward to going to University next year.
(Clive)
This quote illustrates the time and investment required to overturn adults’ attitudinal barriers as well as the profoundness of this transformation when it occurs. As parents ’ aspirations are raised through this repeated engagement, many begin to form an intention to progress to higher education, which in turn influences their hopes for their children. This, combined with the well-documented increase in confidence brought about by much of adult learning, gives many the assurance and knowledge to spur their children on to aim higher in their learning as well as their future path.
The research to date has identified a h uge variance in parents’ sense of agency in relation to t heir child’s education and future prospects. Whilst some parents clearly saw it as their responsibility to steer and guide their children, others had a more hands-off attitude, leaving it up to the school and the child them self to decide their path. Par ents’ confidence with negotiating the school system and post-16 opportunities was a significant factor and this was affected by their own level of education.
Patricia, a mother of two in her late forties studying for a Foundation Degree, described how she and her husband had always encouraged their children to progress and remained closely involved in their decision making at crucial times:
‘It’s because our ethics were you get a good education so that’s what they have automatically done
’. She made it clear in the interview that although the path her daughter takes to get to university is up for some discussion and debate, the fact that she will go is not:
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M aybe it’s because of us it goes without saying that you continue…you go to college and then you do further education, whether it be at university or a dance college…it was the route that was set…that’s how it works.
(Patricia)
The fact that Patricia and her husband both had professional careers and some experience of Higher Education may have played a role in this assertiveness as they proactively guided their children. Similarly, mother of two, Hannah, has been through a broad range of Further Education courses over 14 years of working in a
Children’s Centre and is now completing a Foundation Degree. Her husband has also progressed from manual work to managerial level in a professional role and has acquired a degree whilst working. Hannah feels that this has had a direct impact on their 14 year-old daughter
’s education and both parents expect and even compel her to stay on:
I think the reason she enjoys it is because she’s had it instilled in her that education is important and … it might seem harsh but as parents the rules are that she stays in education until she is 18 and a half.
She hasn’t got an option of walking away from education… at 16 or she won’t be allowed to continue with us, she has to stay in education and she’s known that for the last few years s o she’s knows she’s gonna stay.
(Hannah)
In the case of this family, both parents’ own educational progression has clearly shaped their outlook regarding the best path for their daughter to the extent that the security they provide is conditional on her remaining dedicated to her education.
A contrast to this is provided in the case of mother of 5, Lorraine and her son Joel, recently excluded from Year 11 of secondary school. In her interview, Lorraine expressed hopes that her children would ‘do well’, but tended to define this more in terms of material security and family rather than educational success. The family’s culture of aspiration seemed to be focused on getting a decent job, buying your own house and having a family and the prospect of either herself or the children entering university was not raised as a significant aim. In this sense, the traditional workingclass community Lorraine had grown up and still lived in, as well as the traditional gender roles of her own family, seemed to play a key role in defining her aspirations for herself and her children. Lorraine says she has encouraged her children to be independent and not depend on her, but has tried to help them with their education
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where she can. Whilst still at primary, she is proud of getting them to school on time and of their good attendance but says she has a more hands-off attitude when they become teenagers. When asked if she felt her own learning had any positive impacts on that of her children, she replied:
I hope they can do it if they see me doing it, but it’s up to them. I’ve never been a pushy parent.
(Lorraine)
Whether this is due to gaps in her own knowledge about progression to HE and routes into careers is unclear but may be a contributing factor. In conversation about
Joel, Lorraine supported his behaviour and felt that the school had let him down, holding them responsible for the shortcomings in his education and subsequent career prospects.
In a related case study, Maryam has high aspirations for her 3 children, including her
15 year-old daughter Khadija, which is partly shaped by her own limited opportunities:
Oh I want her to go to university; I want her to do well, to make a good future for herself. Everything that I didn’t do I want them to do and I always let them know, I always talk to them.
(Maryam)
However, whilst Maryam tries hard to encourage her children to study and aim high, her own limited education and knowledge of the school system means that she feels ill-equipped to guide and support them. Her older children attend a low-achieving inner-city school with little progression to A-levels and Higher Education which has undergone a recent merger and faced a number of difficulties: 8
They’ve been having a lot of problems. I think this is why her education is suffering. They are getting supply teachers in and they are not really
8 In 2009, 16% of Year 11 pupils achieved 5 A-C grades in their GCSES in comparison with a local authority average of 45.9% and a national average of 49.8% (DSCF, 2009). http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/performancetables/schools_09.shtml
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bothered if the children do their work or not. So that’s a downside of them going to that school. But I suppose that’s our choice – we made that before.
(Maryam)
Maryam desperately wants to support her daughter to get the best outcome from her schooling and to progress but her confidence and lack of knowledge undermines this. The constraints of her own situation in turn constrain the opportunities open to her children; living in an inner-city area with a poor choice of schools and insufficient resources to choose a school farther away, poorly informed about alternative options and both parents themselves having a low level of education and social capital to make an informed choice.
As evidenced in this section, the research has demonstrated that p arents’ sense of agency in their children’s education and future path varies enormously. Whilst some have a clear vision of the kind of careers their child should aspire to and steer them towards these goals, o thers view their child’s education and career plans as being
‘up to them’ and feel reluctant to intervene. This in itself has an impact on the young people’s aspirations as those who are not encouraged towards further study are less likely to pursue it as an option. The t ricky concept of ‘pushy parents’ is viewed as a negative by some and a necessity by others.
The findings to date indicate that parents’ learning and involvement in aspirationraising activity has a positive impact on young people’s attainment and aspirations in general. The learner stories being collated also raise interesting issues about social class and social mobility as individual parent’s disadvantaged backgrounds do not necessarily determine their aspirations for their children. In some cases the opposite is true, where an individual describes themselves as ‘wanting more’ and this translates into their hopes for their children, regardless of the extent to which they have been able to achieve this for themselves. However, the choices and opportunities open to young people still appear to be constrained where parents have limited knowledge of or confidence to negotiate the education system. This is
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something we plan to explore further in the next round of interviews and through ongoing data analysis.
The recommendations of the research to date focus on two key points:

Parents must be recognised as potential learners in their own right, in addition their role in their child’s education.

Agencies and initiatives working with adults have an important role to play - signposting parents to information about further study to maximise the mutual benefits of parents learning alongside their children.
The research is currently funded for a second year by Aimhigher West Yorkshire.
This enables a further round of interviews which will double the sample of parents and young people. We envisage that this extension of the research will produce a wider body of evidence with which to test the impact of parents ’ learning on their children. Additionally, we have decided to expand the age range of young people in the next sample from 14-19 to 11-19 in order to explore how parents’ return to education affects younger children at secondary school, particularly those studying in
Key Stage 3. It is hoped that this will provide the basis for a longitudinal study, allowing the impacts to be investigated over a longer period of the child’s school career and measured through changes in grades, options taken at GCSE and other milestones of their education journey.
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Atherton, G. (et al) (2009) ‘How Young People Formulate the Views about the
Future, Exploratory Research’, London: Department for Children Schools and
Families
Brynner, J. and Parsons, S. (2006) ‘New light on literacy and numeracy: summary report
’, London: National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy,
Numeracy (NDRC)
Department for Children, Schools and Families (2010)
‘Achievement and Attainment
Tables 2009’. Internet website of the DCSF [online], available from: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/performancetables/schools_09.shtml
Accessed 1 February 2010
Feinstein, L., Duckworth, K. and Sabates, R. (2004) ‘A Model of the Intergenerational
Transmission of Educational Success ’ , Wider Benefits of Learning Research Report
No. 10. London: Institute of Education
Feinstein, L. and Duckworth, K. (2006) ‘Development in the Early Years: Its
Importance for School Performance and Adult Outcomes ’ , Wider Benefits of
Learning Research Report No. 20. London: Institute of Education
Holmlund, H. Lindahl, M. and Plug, E. (2008), ‘Estimating Intergenerational
Schooling Effect: A Comparison of Methods ’, IZA Discussion Paper, No. 3630.
Masche, J.G. (2010) ‘Explanation of normative declines in parents' knowledge about their adolescent children ’, Journal of Adolescence 33, (2) pp. 271-284
Morrison Gutman
, L. and Akerman, R. (2008) ‘Determinants of Aspirations’,
Wider
Benefits of Learning Research Report No. 27. London: Institute of Education
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