Academics within the field of education have produced extensive research. The purpose of previous studies has often been to explain the underlying causes, with a generalizing result, to how education operate within a nation. To contribute with an urban perspective, this studies aim is to research how parents from different socio-economic backgrounds in Mexico City are reasoning about their children’s schooling and education. What individual choices they have made and how the social context has impacted on these choices. The respondents were selected through a snowball selection using interviews with semistructured questions for data collection. The material was coded into two themes, individual level and societal level. The respondents with wealthier and poorer socioeconomic background were analysed separately and then compared and summarised. The theoretical framework is a combination of the human capability approach together with the findings in previous research. A finding in the research is that education is perceived differently depending on the socio-economic background. The respondents with wealthier socio-economic background are referring to the future work career and economic security as benefits for their children. The respondents with poorer socio-economic background are mentioning the opportunity to change their lives and “to not become like them”. Despite the different benefits mentioned, all respondents’ value education as the most important investment in life for their children. The conclusion drawn from the study is, that no matter what their socio-economic background is education a high priority.

The overall purpose of this thesis was to explore the program “Bredsands Brobyggare,” which aims to increase immigrant parents’ involvement and participation in their children’s schooling. This was achieved by studying how the “bridge builders” experience relationship building with the parents and what strategies they use while working with the target group, as well as how these strategies are considered to affect the parents’ involvement in school. In the thesis, four semi-structured interviews were conducted with service providers working in the investigated program. The results were analyzed from a hermeneutic abductive approach through a thematic analysis. Dempsey and Sandler’s theoretical model of motivational sources for parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling is the theoretical framework underlying the analysis. The results showed that the bridge builders used their cultural-understanding ability to build a relationship with the parents and increased other professionals’ awareness and understanding of their difficulties and needs. Furthermore, after establishing a relationship with the parents, the bridge builders used other approaches, such as a strength-based approach and the implementation of individualized support according to the parents’ needs, aiming to create a stable line of communication between school and home, which in turn can potentially develop parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling. / Det övergripande syftet med denna uppsats är att utforska programmet "Bredsands Brobyggare" vars syfte är att öka utrikesfödda föräldrars engagemang och delaktighet i sina barns skolgång. Detta genom att studera hur yrkesutövarna, de så kallade "brobyggarna", upplever relationsbyggandet med föräldrarna och vilka strategier de använder i arbetet med målgruppen, samt hur dessa strategier anses påverka föräldrarnas delaktighet i skolan. I uppsatsen genomförs fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med yrkesutövare som arbetar inom den undersökta verksamheten. Resultatet analyserades utifrån en hermeneutisk abduktiv ansats, genom en tematisk innehållsanalys. Den teoretiska ramen som ligger till grund för analysen är Dempsey and Sandlers teoretiska modell om motivationskällor för föräldrars delaktighet i barnets skolgång. Resultatet visar att yrkesutövarna använder sig av relationsskapande och andra förhållningssätt vid arbete med föräldrar som har en invandrarbakgrund. Specifikt indikerar resultatet att brobyggarna använder sig av sin kulturell-förståelse förmåga, både för att bygga en relation med föräldrarna samt för att öka övrig personals medvetenhet och förståelse av föräldrarnas svårigheter och behov. Efter etablering av relation med föräldrarna, använder brobyggarna andra förhållningssätt till exempel som ett styrkebaserat förhållningssätt samt implementering av individualiserat stöd enligt föräldrars behov, detta i syfte att skapa en stabil linje av kommunikation mellan skolan och hemmet som i sin tur kan tänkas utveckla föräldrars delaktighet i sina barns skolgång.