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Education and Parenting in Colombia

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School Systems, Parent Behavior, and Academic Achievement

Abstract

This chapter begins by reporting demographics of Colombia, taking into account its stratified social system and its profile as a developing country. The cultural setting of Colombia is described in terms of its system of values and how such values can influence what mothers and fathers are expected to do with their children. The cultural setting also is described in terms of the peace agreement reached between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia after over 50 years of conflict, as a milestone in the process of settling one of the world’s most protracted and violent conflicts. The Colombian educational system is then described with history about how access and quality significantly vary across regions and between the socioeconomic strata. The steps that have been taken to evaluate scholastic achievement in Colombia with standardized methods also are described. Examples are provided about how socioeconomic characteristics as well as the school system in Colombia could indirectly affect parenting, and about current debates, such as about the length for a school day. The chapter ends with a summary of the few studies that have examined direct associations between family functioning and parenting styles and scholastic achievement in Colombia. Overall, the poorer the families are, the lower is the scholastic achievement of their adolescent offspring.

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Di Giunta, L., Uribe Tirado, L.M. (2019). Education and Parenting in Colombia. In: Sorbring, E., Lansford, J. (eds) School Systems, Parent Behavior, and Academic Achievement. Young People and Learning Processes in School and Everyday Life, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28277-6_3

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