TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES OF POLISH MIGRANT MOTHERS PARENTING IN GREAT BRITAIN

The paper discusses educational strategies of Polish migrant mothers parenting in the United Kingdom. The main argument concerns a growing need for examining the diversity and heterogeneity of the Polish migrant parents, particularly evident in the educational choices they make for children growing up abroad. The findings stem from a doctoral research project, supplemented by the data from the Polish schooling in UK – tradition and modernity study. Qualitative methodological approaches of both projects relied on conducting interviews. The topic of educational choices is anchored in the discussion of three models of motherhood, which seemingly distinguish the approaches to Polish supplementary schooling, as well as highlight inherent differences and conflicts within the views pertinent to local (English or Welsh) schooling that the parents share. The focus is placed on parental reasons for children’s participation in Polish education, further elaborating on the motivations of the parents who do not take up this form of learning. The paper pinpoints a transnational character of the educational choices, linking them to the debates on social and educational capital of migrants. Finally, it puts forward a claim that there is a tendency among Polish parents to somewhat overburden their children with multiple educational pathways.