Cultivating Learning and Social Capital for Educational Futures in a Rural Migrant Family

• In Event: Negotiating Belonging and Mobility in Rural Education: Family, Community, and Context

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines a parent-focused intervention in rural China that enhanced middle school students’ academic achievement and well-being. Focusing on one migrant worker family, it highlights how the mother, despite physical separation due to labor migration and limited formal education, became an empowered social agent in her family’s learning environment. The study explores reflective parenting and companionship strategies that led to significant improvements in her child’s academic performance and emotional growth over three years. By tracing this journey, it connects current educational practices with historical and social contexts, including labor migration and the urban-rural divide’s impact on family dynamics and educational access. The study shows how sustained family education fosters empowerment and collective growth within marginalized families.

Authors

• Lin Deng, University of Florida

• Alice Hsun-Fang Hsu, Harvard University