Motivações para a escolarização bilíngue: um estudo com famílias das classes médias e médias altas no Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This article aims to understand family expectations regarding bilingual schooling. More specifically, it seeks to analyze the reasons and motivations that have led fathers and mothers of the upper-middle classes to enroll their children in schools that offer bilingual education. Social Sciences and Education meet in this work in two fundamental discussions: in the debates about the relationship between schooling and social classes, and in the sociological perspective on the phenomenon of school choice. A qualitative research was carried out based on 10 in-depth interviews and the conduct of a focus group with five mothers of students from the same bilingual school. The results discuss the parents’ perceptions about the following themes: the bilingual schools themselves; the future and career of children and higher education in Brazil and abroad.