INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a study on the possibility of predicting students’ assessments of their own potential future parenting practices based on their assessments of their parents’ parenting practices. Three types of parenting practices were examined: expectations and demands, praise and rewards, and criticism and punishment. The research was conducted on the sample of 390 students. The similarities observed in the assessments suggest the existence of intergenerational transmission of parenting practices, meaning that parental practices can, to some extent, predict the parenting preferences of their children. This result was found for all three types of parenting practices included in the study. While the findings indicate the presence of intergenerational transmission of parenting practices, they also suggest that the extent of this transmission should not be overestimated, as it is limited in scope. Significant differences were found between parental practices and the preferred parenting practices of the respondents, with a noticeable trend toward less authoritarian parenting. Respondents estimated that they would impose fewer demands and expectations on their children, praise and reward them more, and punish them slightly less. This aligns with the general trend of reducing authoritarian elements in parenting in favour of increasing the presence of authoritative and permissive parenting styles. The results also suggest that the role of mothers is somewhat more important than that of fathers in the intergenerational transmission of parenting practices. As a general conclusion, the study indicates the simultaneous presence of both intergenerational transmission of parenting practices between parents and their adult children and changes in those practices. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that, in this research, respondents’ evaluations of their own potential future parenting practices are merely their perceptions as future parents.