¡No Me Juzguez! Latino Parent Perceptions of the Lived Experience of Participation in Their Child\u27s Education: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand Latino parent perceptions of the lived experience of participation in their middle school child’s education. Participants were chosen through convenience and snowball sampling with the criterion that each participant was a Latino parent of a child who attended a middle school in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. “Lehigh Valley” is the pseudonym used for the school district and the area in which the study was conducted. Theories that guided this study and the research questions were parental involvement theory and cultural capital theory. The central question for this study was focused on Latino parents’ perceptions of the way their life experiences impact their participation in their middle school child’s education. In addition, the three research subquestions were designed to investigate Latino parents’ perceptions of the ways relationships between parenting at home and school-based involvement, their experiences with school personnel, and community program involvement impact their participation in their middle school child’s education. Data—in the form of interviews, a focus group interview, observations, and documentation of field notes—were collected and analyzed in order to depict the essence of the phenomenon. Finally, data analysis included direct interpretation of participant interviews and experiences, narratives, and memoing. This research adds to the current literature by providing the voice of the Latino parent. This study’s findings confirmed that Latino parents believe their life experiences impact their participation in their child’s education. Participants also corroborated the findings of current literature regarding parental involvement and cultural capital in education