AbstractA doctoral study (1993-1996), undertaken at Edith Cowan University, set out to investigate the influence of home and school environment on the academic performance and educational aspirations of high school students from eight Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families. These students (7 males, 5 females) studied at a metropolitan high school where the author taught for several years. In this longitudinal study data were collected by employing the techniques of participant observation, semi-formal interviewing and document analysis. The author spent over 500 hours in the homes of the research students, observed and interviewed them at school for two years. At school about 100 teachers, and other personnel who taught the students, were interviewed for 250 hours.

The early findings of this study reveal, collectively, Chinese-Australian parents, regardless of their socioeconomic status, invest more time and resources and have stronger commitment for the education of their children than their Anglo-Australian counterparts. In general, Chinese-Australian students tend to select high-calibre subjects, leading to professional degrees, whereas the Anglo-Australian students tend to select the low-key subjects leading to semi-professional courses at the University or Technical and Further Education colleges. The mechanism by which the Chinese-Australian students perform so well is that their parents adopt an authoritatively authoritarian approach in their childrearing practices, and in their daily routine they prioritise their children's education. High parental expectations and involvement are internalised by children, who in turn, spend more time in school-related activities. Teachers at school, interact more positively with well-motivated and conforming students. Anglo-Australian parents, on the other hand, tend to give more autonomy to their children and they spend more time on sports and recreational activities of their children. Children from such families tend to show lower interest in school work. Teachers hold lower expectations and interact with less frequently.

Influence of home and school environments on the academic performance of the Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian students studying at a high school in Perth.

A considerable amount of research , conducted to assess the role of the global variables such as socioeconomic status and ethnicity on the academic performance and occupational aspirations of the teenagers, has established that children from low socioeconomic status and minority groups are associated with low academic performance and from the middle class families are associated with high academic performance. In fact, the relation between the family's socioeconomic

status and children's cognitive ability and academic achievement has been called "one of the firmest facts in psychology" (Kagan, 1979, p. 229). Ethnicity is also an important student variable in relation to classroom interaction and achievement. A massive study undertaken in the United States in the 1960s (Coleman et al., 1966) examined the role of family and school on the academic performance of children from different racial-ethnic groups and the dominant Anglo-Saxon group. This study, supported by Jencks et al.(1972) argued that unequal school achievement of students was a function of unequal educational opportunities. Home, not school, Coleman et al. argued, played the key role in children's academic performance; children from the Oriental migrant families (China, Japan, Philipines) out-performed their majority counterparts. Better educated parents were more likely to mirror the academic style of classrooms at home by praising and interacting with their children, modelling appropriate behaviour and promoting initiative and independence. Coleman et al. summed up their argument by claiming that children from low socioeconomic status and ethnic minority group entered school with less preparation and exhibited a poor performance pattern. This clear difference in performance persisted throughout the child's schooling experience. "The minority children have a serious educational deficiency at the start of the school, which is obviously not a result of the school and they have an even more serious deficiency at the end of the school which is obviously in part as a result of the school" Coleman et al., 1966, p. 524). In a later study Coleman (1975) reiterated that the most pervasive research result in educational achievement was the strength of the effect of family differences in creating achievement differences among children, compared to the relative weakness of the effect of the school differences. A wide range of studies (Jencks et al., 1972, 1979; Alexander and Eckland, 1980; Sewell and Houser, 1976; Thorndike, 1973) also demonstrated that school achievement was largely determined by circumstances of pupils and all other factors were of secondary importance. In recent years, the impressive performance of children from what Ho (1994) calls the Confucian Heritage Cultures (China, Japan, and Korea) has captured the attention of social scientists in a number of cross-cultural studies conducted in the United States of America (Flynn, 1991; Lee, 1960; Lynn, 1982; Schneider et al., 1994; Stevenson and Stigler, 1991), the United Kingdom (Gibson, 1988), Holland (Pieke, 1991) and Australia (Bullivant, 1987; Chan, 1988; Malik, 1988). In the United States the policy makers have referred to the Asian-Americans as the "model minority" (Wong, 1980) and their children as "whiz kids" (Brand, 1987). A study by Flynn (1991) showed that between 1981 and 1987 Asian American high school students were over-represented among the winners of American National Merit Scholarships, US Presidential Scholarships and Westinghouse Science Talent Search Scholars. The same study also showed that Asian students aimed to enrol in the most prestigious universities in the United States. Even the disadvantaged Asian

Americans such as refugees with limited resources and limited English proficiency and low socioeconomic status had high academic achievement in school (Caplan, Coy and Whitmore, 1992). American evidence also suggests that the children from Southeast Asian migrant families are more motivated than Euro-Americans despite equal or lower IQ. Vernon (1982) found that the Orientals of all ages in any cultural setting scored higher relative to Euro-Americans on spatial, numerical or non-verbal intelligence tests and less well on verbal activities and achievements. Lynn (1982) attributed the superior performance of the Confucian Heritage Cultures children to their innate endowment. Stevenson and Stigler (1991), supported by others (e.g. Biggs, 1990) have argued that the superior performance of the Asian children is not attributed to their innate ability but it is related to their everyday experiences at home and school. A common explanation for the poor academic performance of American children in cross-cultural comparisons is that they spend less time after school on academic activities than their Chinese and Japanese counterparts(Garden, 1987; Stevenson, Lee and Stigler, 1986). Although home and school are the principal institutions to socialize children to adulthood, very little research has been conducted to evaluate their combined influence on children's academic performance. While home and school differ, in many ways both share a common objective to ensure the optimal development of children. To achieve this objective parents provide for their children's physical needs and lay the foundation for children's school learning. Home plays a central

role in the development of cognitive and non-cognitive characteristics of children. Socializing agents in the family, such as family members and family social network constitute an important variable in child socialization. "Families are very powerful institutions, and their influence over their young members registers in every part of their lives, including schooling" (Connell et al., 1982, p. 186). When children walk into the school building they bring with them the values, ambition, motivation and the expectations which their parents set for them. Certain characteristics of the families exert influence on children's academic achievements in most of the social contexts. Measures of verbal interaction between mothers and children (Hess et al., 1984; Laosa, 1982; Marjoribanks, 1980); expectations of parents for achievement (Hess et al., 1984; Marjoribanks, 1980); affective relationship between parents and children (Bradley and Caldwell, 1976; Radin, 1971, 1972; Sigel, 1982); discipline and control strategies (Baumrind, 1973; Hess et al., 1969; Hess and McDevitt, 1984b) and parental beliefs attribution's (Goodnow, 1984; Sigel et al., 1983; McGillicuddy-Delisi, 1982) are found associated with children's achievement at school. Schools accept the obligation of providing a suitable environment, staff and appropriate curriculum corresponding to the needs, interests and problems of the participants. Stimulating classroom and home environments which are more oriented toward learning

each independently help to predict better achievement (Walberg, Fraser, Welch, 1986). Children who see their high school environment as more intellectual and permissive tend to have better academic self-concept and show more enthusiasm for school (Marjoribanks, 1979, 1986). The home-school interface is perhaps the most widely recognised aspect of the family-community relationship. The congruence between home and school can have a large and significant effect upon child development, particularly on academic success. A home environment that promotes learning can operate so that a child with only average innate ability does well in school. A very good school can operate also to compensate a child for a poor home environment (Levine and Havinghurst, 1989, p. 115). Home predisposes the child to an acceptance or rejection of the school values. Organisation of the school also plays an important role (Hargreaves, 1967). When the characteristics developed at home do not support school learning, the resultant discontinuity experienced by children when they go to school will affect their scholastic performance. It is argued that children from certain backgrounds (ethnic minority and low socioeconomic status) perform poorly at school not because of their backgrounds are deprived in any way-culturally or in terms of stimulating learning conditions- but because they had not the opportunity to acquire the content and style of learning that underlie the activities of school (Ogbu, 1982, 1987, 1991). Ogbu calls it the discontinuity hypothesis which is based on the premise that an environment fosters the development of the particular knowledge, skills, learning styles and values that have adaptive value for individuals living in it. When people move from one setting (e.g. home) to another (e.g. school) their success in meeting the demands of the new environment will depend on the extent to which they can apply the competencies in the original environment. When this reasoning is applied to children making the transition from home to school, all children will experience some problems with discontinuity when they go to school. Also, since the homes differ among themselves in the competencies they foster, some children will be more disadvantaged than others in making the transition (Kellaghan et al., 1993, p.25). Many of the characteristics of the school environment are obviously different from those at home (Ogbu, 1982, 1987; Silverman, 1988; Wood, 1988). It is argued that where parent-child interactions resemble more closely the types of interaction that one would expect to find in a school,

children tend to perform well. Where the discontinuity is high children do not tend to perform well (Laosa, 1982).

This Study In this study I have examined the influence of home and school environments on the academic performance and occupational aspirations of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian high school students studying at an academically-oriented high school in Perth-Western Australia. Pseudonym of the school is Paramount Senior High and the

suburb where Paramount is located is referred to as Southside. This study aimed at identifying the distinctive features of the homes and the role of the school that contributed most in the differential academic performance of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian children studying at Paramount Senior High School.

Methodology The choice of the methodology to conduct this research was influenced by the three key research questions. What goes on in the homes of children from the Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families? What goes on in the classrooms that influences teenagers' attitude towards school work and their academic performance? What is the nature of the relationship between the cultures of home and school which leads to differential academic outcomes? Qualitative methodology is deemed appropriate to capture what teachers, parents and children say and do as a product of how they interpret the complexity of their world. Using limited participant observation and conversational interviews I could enter into the lives of the teenagers to understand those aspects of their world to "which I am not privy and yet which I feel are central to their world" (Davies, 1982, p.3). The rationale for choosing the qualitative methodology is based on Weber's (1977) notion of verstehen which purports that through empathic understanding and direct experience of the social world we gain insight into a given social phenomenon. As this study explored the complex macro and micro processes of home and school and the effects of home-school link on children's academic performance a methodology that incorporated the existential experiences of children in their homes and school was well-suited. The eight families included in this study resided in Southside, a predominantly middle class suburb of Perth which in recent years had attracted a large number of immigrants from the Southeast Asian region, mainly because of the academic reputation of Paramount Senior High School. The growing reputation of Paramount Senior High also had attracted experienced teachers. The Principal was a dynamic and innovative person who took pride in academic excellence as well as sports results. Parents were very supportive of the school policies. I taught at this school for several years including the period when this study was conducted (1993-1996). Data were collected mainly by employing participant observation, conversational interviews and document analysis. To a limited degree, especially in the initial stage, questionnaires were also used. I used a number of general questions to initially guide my observations. How is each family organized? What kinds of interpersonal dynamics exist in each family? What types of activities occur in each home? What topics are discussed and what information, opinions and beliefs are exchanged among the participants? How are the children from the participating families adjusted to school? How do children relate to their teachers? More specific observation questions, particularly about the interaction between parents, children and teachers were developed from the review of notes as the field work

continued. These observations not only illuminated what happened in each setting but they also were as the focus for in-depth interviews about the nature and meaning of the participants' actions. Interviewing

was conducted by using Glaser and Strauss's (1967) theoretical sampling and constant comparative method of data analysis. Interviews were not organized into predetermined questions. Instead, they were structured around the family being studied. After reviewing the field notes more specific questions emerged and were asked during interviews to gain deeper insight into the situations and to clarify misconceptions. Responses from parents and their children were cross-checked at home, and between students and teachers at school. Interviews were designed to discover how individuals interpreted the social world around them and how these interpretations were used as the basis for their actions. Scheduled interviews were conducted fortnightly and later monthly for two years (1994-95). Children and their parents were interviewed in their homes. At school, children were observed in my own class, in the classes of other teachers, in the play grounds and on their way to home after school hours. Teachers who taught these children were also interviewed formally and informally. Between 1993 and 1996 I paid 253 visits to these families and spent 556 hours interviewing parents and the children.

Chinese-Australian Families Chinese- Australian families included in this study are from Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong with their ancestry from the Southeast province of Kwantung. Parents in these families spoke in their own language at home. Their life style, food habits, social network were distinctively akin to the countries of their origin. Except for the Goh family which immigrated in 1979, these families arrived in Australia in the mid-1980s. They gave two reasons to immigrate to Australia: to provide better educational opportunities for their children and to enjoy a better life-style for themselves. The choice of Southside as a location in which to live, where Paramount Senior High is located, was not a coincidence: They bought their homes in this suburb because of the academic reputation of the school. All of these families brought enough money from their countries of origin to buy a car, house and other household items. Although the Malaysian-born parents (Mr. and Mrs. Goh and Mr. Cheong) had earned their degrees from the University of Western Australia before they immigrated, and parents in the other two families (fathers) had completed A-level (equivalent to TEE) they found it hard to get jobs commensurate with their qualifications. Table 1 given below shows the types of jobs parents had done in their own countries and after arriving in Australia.

TABLE 1DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SAMPLE

(N = 8 families, target children = 14, males = 8, fEMALES = 6)

Parental Goals Chinese-Australian families arrived in Australia under different circumstances. Malaysian-born families had already experienced the taste of Australian life style before immigrating to Australia. They felt that with their Chinese origin their children would have limited opportunities and stiff competition for jobs in Malaysia. The family from Hong Kong said that their future was uncertain after China took possession of the colony. Singaporean family said that rigidly regimented and competitive society was very stressful. On the other hand, parents in these families perceived Australia a land of opportunities, especially for their children. Ironically, parents in

each family encountered problems to find suitable jobs, mainly because of the lack of proficiency in English, although some parents complained that their ethnic background was a disadvantage. Mr. Cheong's experience was typical of the other Chinese-Australian families. I did my degree in accounting from the University of Western Australia. I had plenty of experience as an accountant but I could not get a job. In collaboration with my brother-in-law and with my Chinese friend I started a Chinese restaurant in Northbridge. After six months I pulled out of it because we did not make enough profit. I started to work as a certified practicing accountant in partnership with another Malaysian-Chinese friend. A year later my wife also got a part-time job to do book keeping with our Chinese friend. Now my wife works few days a week because our children have started to go to high school.Another graduate from the University of Western Australia, Mr. Goh, after migrating to Australia faced similar problems. He explained: For six months I worked on odd jobs. For 12 years I worked as a technician at the University of Western Australia. I remained on the same salary. I resigned and tried to get in the business of import and export. Chinese people like to be their own boss....I like to start my own business. My wife is a matron. I have asked her to resign... We have bought a news agency (Dec. 1995). We work long

hours but we are our own boss. Sometimes our children help us at weekends. While parents in these families faced hardships they ended up in "middle man migrant economy" (Light, 1972) or self-employed. Either way they got lower status jobs compared to what they did in their countries of origin. But they accepted the lower status jobs in order to provide an economic security for their families and more importantly educational resources for their children. Coming from the big cities with a taste of middle class life-style and with the proceeds from the sale of their properties, parents gave top priority to the education of their children while their own interest and comfort was of secondary importance. They saw the vision of social mobility through their children by encouraging them to work hard at school and get good grades to facilitate their entry in tertiary institutions to do professional degrees. Three factors contributed to harden parents' resolve to encourage their children to pursue professional degrees: (a) parents' own experiences of low status jobs in Australia, (b) some successful Chinese-Australian professionals in the family social network, and (c) their vision of the availability of opportunities for their children which were not available to them in their own countries. Excerpts from the interviews with parents lend support to these claims. We have been in Australia for six years. I am earning less money now and doing the type of the work which I never did before. In Hong Kong I was an assistant manager of a small size hotel. I don't mind doing this work (as a porter) so long as my daughters could study for medicine. Our family doctor is from Hong Kong. He has smart children... Our daughters are their friends - Yu Chi

Kwang .

I wanted to be a doctor but my parents could not afford the expenses. One thing I have noticed in Australia during the past eight years is that the people in blue collar jobs are more prejudiced against the Asians. If my son and daughter get professional degrees like accounting or medicine they can start their own business here or in Malaysia or in some other country - Mr. Cheong

Reinforcing the above viewpoints said Mr. Goh

Even though I have a degree from the University of Western Australia I cannot

speak like the Australians. Our children look like us but they don't have accent. If they work hard (in studies) they can get in medicine, accounting or commerce. One nice thing about my son is that he works hard and all of his friends are from the Lion Dance Group. They are either doctors or studying at the University. I don't think my son will work on a news agency like me.With a university degree as the desired goal for their children, parents in these families not only invested heavily on educational resources but through their personal sacrifice of time and interest they transmitted clear signals that to enjoy a 'good life' later they (children) must work hard now.

Commitment to Education Parental emotional support and provision of 'cultural and social capital' (Coleman, 1988) was evidence of their commitment to education. Parents brought with them the cultural view that scholarship and effort are the route to social and economic development. For the social advancement of the family, parents worked hard on low paid jobs and showed frugality in spending on their personal comforts but they invested heavily on educational resources for their children. All of these families had hired home tutors in maths and some in science and English. In some cases even during the holidays a home tutor was available. Already an outstanding student Chi Chen was provided a tutor in maths and his sister had a home tutor in maths and accounting. Man Pui Kwang's dad had been diagnosed suffering from liver cancer (died in April, 1996). Both parents were unemployed (Mrs. Kwang resigned from her job in order to look after her dying husband). Tragedy in the house did not deprive Man Pui and her younger sister from employing a home tutor in maths. Both girls had improved in English and they were no longer in English as a Second Language classes. The dying wish of Mr. Kwang to his older daughter was: "If something happens to me you don't give up your studies. We came (to Australia) for your sake. We will like you to be a doctor". The Koks were very depressed because their son Lee Tuan had become a victim of bully behaviour at school. However, Mrs. Kok was resigned to accept the fact that Lee wasn't academically-oriented. Taking care of three children between the age of 14 to 1 year, she regularly took them to the libraries, swimming pool and ensured that her children completed their daily homework. Parents transmitted the message that effort, not intelligence, is the key to success. To face difficult situations they encouraged their children to persist. Parents took their children to the local libraries quite frequently. Pearl Cheong had read that many books from the local

library that the librarian would humorously say, "There are no more books for you to read. You have read them all". Children had accepted their parents' expectations that school work had priority over the

other activities. Financially hard pressed and suffering from liver cancer Mr. Kwang said, "Instead of doing part time job we will like Man Pui to spend more time doing her work in maths and English". Showing his disapproval of part time work Mr. Cheong (emphatically) said, "At high school my children's main job is to concentrate on studies. Why should they go for a part time job when I and my wife are both working? What are the parents for? We cannot understand how the Australians ask their children to leave home at the age of fifteen"? TABLE 2NUMBER OF HOURS SPENT IN DOING VARIOUS ACTIVITIES PER WEEK 1995

Teaching learning sessions in these homes were a regular feature. Man Pui's case is typical of other Chinese-Australian families: My parents tell us all the time to take school work seriously. Sometimes when we are eating our dinner dad will say: "Look at Dr. Leong (a family friend from Hong Kong). He has a double story home at the river front and his children are smart. Look at me. I am a porter in a hotel doing shift work. Your mother is a factory worker. We earn less money than being on unemployment benefit". Dr. Leong told my dad that maths, chemistry and physics are important if we want to study medicine, although I hate physics.

Parental Involvement The most striking feature of the Chinese-Australian parents was their control of the after-school hours time of their children and a lack of it in the Anglo-Australian homes. This tight control by parents appeared to be germane to their own upbringing. Parents by their own confession, were subject to tight control and physical and psychological punishment when they were young. Led by the belief that parents should be firm with their children, parents in these families adopted the strategies which appeared to be authoritarian but certainly not accompanied by hostility and coercion. In fact, emotional links between parents and their children was very strong. Firm control meant parental care, concern and involvement. By staying close with their children, parents asserted their authority and ability to control their behaviour regarding the use of their time. Parents exercised such control by closely monitoring their children's division of time between academic and social and recreational pursuits. They had succeeded to achieve this goal by making sacrifice on their own interests and by involving their children in the family activities. Although there were differences in the ways parents in different families emphasized

certain activities, it is the commonalities rather than differences which were more obvious. Most typical routine in these families was that parents took their children to a Chinese restaurant. On Saturday morning children attended Chinese language classes. Parents and children watched Chinese and selected English movies on their home videos. In each family, children were participating in some facets of Chinese culture, such as lion dance, kungfu, tai chi and the organization of cultural activities to be performed on occasions such as the Australia Day and the Chinese New

Year. Family visits were mainly confined to the people of their own social network, which was very carefully selected. During such visits children had the opportunity to interact with other children with similar cultural background and similar aspirations. Victor Cheong's routine was fairly typical of the other children: From 3.15 to 4.15 p.m. I did my homework. Watched T.V. for half an hour. Then I went for jogging with my dad around 5.45. After dinner I helped doing dishes. At around 7.50 I read my Chinese with my mum and then watched T.V. till 9.30 (Friday). Saturday morning I went for Chinese school. From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. I had my tutorial in maths. Then I went to play golf with my dad. I finished my science homework before dinner. Then I watched basketball game. I went to bed at 10.45p.m. On Sunday, I went to Kungfu with my other two Chinese friends. After lunch I did my social studies homework. At 4 p.m. my mum took me to the city for dinner. Before going to bed I finished my good copy for social studies assignment. Visits to the families between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. revealed children's commitment to their school work. In all families straight after school, children went to their homes, some walked and others were picked up by their parents. In the Cheong family Mrs. Cheong would sit next to her children reading novels or short stories while they completed their homework. Between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. twice a week a tutor would come to help Victor in English and maths. Twice a week children would be taken to swimming lesson, on the way visiting the local library in case they needed some books to complete their school assignment. During the weekdays children wouldn't be allowed to watch television after 8 p.m. If they did not have much homework to do, they were encouraged to revise their notes and to do extra homework in maths from the books parents had bought from their own countries. Parents strongly believed that teachers were not giving enough homework. Similar rituals, with some variations,

were observed in the other Chinese Australian families. Although the Kwangs did not receive tertiary studies, they were the most persuasive, even coercive in their approach to put their daughters in the routine of spending considerable amount of time doing homework. Said Man Pui, " Mum comes tired from work. If we have a test mum will say: You do your studies. For your sake I will do the house chore. If I have an assignment to do, parents take me to the library to borrow some books. Parents expect us to study all the time". Excerpts from the interviews with Victor Cheong and Chi Chen Goh gave good a indication of parental involvement in their children's homework activities and the influence on their children: My parents tell me to work hard in my school work. They always ask my sister and me when our test is. Most of the time I finish my homework before I watch T.V... When I have an exam I always go to my parents' room to study so that they know I have an exam and they won't disturb me... When my sister or I get a bad result they always tell us to study hard. They restrict our watching of the television but when we get good marks they are happy and proud, and tell us to keep up.. My

parents are always aware of everything around us. If there is something on the television which parents do not approve of they tell us not to follow - Victor Cheong.

My parents bought a new set of world book encyclopedia. It encourages me a lot to study and read more. They encourage me to go to the library more often and they always remind me to revise over my day's work or finish all my homework. They have bought a computer with word processor of the best sort. My parents only usually talk to me about the school work... They have influenced me most to study hard - Chi Chen Goh. Parental involvement in their children's future studies became quite evident at the end of grade 10 when their children were making subject selections for the Upper School study program. Parents attended the information night organized by the school about subject selection. They talked to their children about the value of more difficult subjects and used their social network before they made decision for their children. Table 3 shows the subjects Chinese-Australian children had selected and

why they had selected these subjects.

TABLE 3OCCUPATIONAL / EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS

Anglo-Australian Families Unlike the Chinese-Australian families, the Anglo-Australians, with their British ancestry, had been residing in Southside much earlier than Paramount Senior High School became noted for its academic prowess. Table 1 (p.9) gives descriptive information about these families. All of these families were very happy with the area because it had all the necessary sports and educational facilities. The Smith family had bought their first home after working in the country towns for twenty years. They selected Southside because their relations were residing there. Parents in the other families had extended their homes as the number of siblings increased.Interest in Sports and Leisure Activities While the parents in these families were young they were very keen on sports. In fact, coincidentally parents of the Anglo-Australian children started courting each other in the play grounds. Interest in sports and outdoor activities did not diminish as the parents grew older. During their annual leave at Christmas time parents took their children to the coastal towns to enjoy fishing and water sports. Emphasis on sports and recreation was quite evident in their home leisure activities as well. In their backyard Smiths had a swimming pool, table tennis and a dartboard. In the gamesroom they had billiards and a bar. Marshalls had a swimming pool, piano, table tennis, caravan and dartboard. The Morgans had a basket ball practice ring and a dartboard. The Morrisons had a basket ball practice ring, dartboard, billiards and a caravan. All of these families had excellent barbeque facilities in their backyards. Parents' responses to a question How do

you spend your weekends? sum up their interest in leisure and sports activities.Mr. Smith: Mostly in winter I go to watch footy or visit my parents. I used to play squash and basket ball with keen interest.Mr. Marshall: We like to watch sports on television and go to beach whenever we can.Mr. Morgan: My wife and I like to go for dinners at restaurants. I spend quite afair bit of time watching my sons play Aussie Rules football and base

ball. For several years I have been a coach for footy. Mr. Morrison: I go to work before sun rise and come after sun set. I work in a noisy factory for long hours for five and half days. Quite often I don't see my sons during the week days. At week ends I spend time potter around the backyard and taking the boys to the beach or watch them play soccer and basket ball.

Children from these families participated in organized sports and spent several hours a week in training and playing. Their parents were keen to see their children excel in sports. Most days of the week between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. they were either doing a part- time job or playing sports. Ben Morgan's routine was representative of Chris, Clint and Glenn. At 3 p.m. I came home. At 4 p.m I went to footy training until 6. Dad came to see me training... On Saturday at 10.30 I went next door to play computer games with my friend. After lunch I went with dad to the beach for surfing and swimming. Came back at 4.15. Talked about surfing for half an hour. Mum and dad went out. I invited my friend to watch video at my place. On Sunday, I got up at 9 and watched the movie again. At mid-day my friend went home. I went to play footy. Mum and dad came to see me play. I came home and watched footy on the T.V. with dad.

Chris Marshall gave even a more graphic account of his weekend routine: Straight after school I went to my girl friend's place and then went to my friend's place until 11. On Saturday, I got up at 5 and went surfing. Returned home at 10 and went to my part time job for four hours. Came home and listened to stereo for two and half hours. At 5.30 went to my girl friend's place to watch a video about surfing. Did some study from 5.30 to 6.30. When I come home from surfing I am buggered mate. I am so tired that I don't like doing any work. I go to my room and lock myself in and sleep for 10 hours. You feel so good man when you get up. Surfing is a great sport.Clint was a basket ball scholarship student and represented his school in interstate basket ball competition. Ben was selected by the

Australian Institute of Sports for base ball. Rachel, Krista, Glenn,

Chris represented the school in various sports activities.

Peer Group Orientation Unlike the Chinese Australian children, the Anglo-Australian children spent most of their time, especially at weekends, in the company of their friends. These families held the view that children should be socialised to be economically independent, assertive and make their own decision at an early stage. Thus, they encouraged their children to look for part-time jobs, help in the house-hold chores more often and interact with their peers more freely. In sharp contrast to the Chinese-Australian children who rarely met their school friends after school hours, children from the Anglo-Australian families spent most of their time socialising with their friends, doing part time jobs and playing organised sports. Mr. Marshall told: Chris belongs to a gang of students, I mean a group of his mates he mostly hangs around with. Some of them are older than him. They have left school. None of them did TEE. During holidays and sometimes at weekends they go to the non- smoking night club and time zones... He has tasted alcohol, cigarette and possibly marijuana but he does not like it. He has not been involved in any gang fight. I have told him that if he wants to drink I can buy for him but he should not come home drunk.

Chris described his weekend activities (two weeks before his first semester exam of Year 12):

Today I went to geography field trip. Returned from school at 3 p.m. Talked to my parents about the field trip. Spent one and a half hour at my girl friend's place. Had my meals at 6.30 and went with my friends to hire a video. We watched the video at my girl friend's place. Came home at 11.30. On Saturday went for four hours to work on my part time job. In the afternoon I watched Aussie rules football at my girl friend's place. In the evening went to the city to play ten pin bowling. On Sunday got up at 9.20. Went for driving lesson with dad. At 11.30 my girl friend came. I went with her to her place. This weekend I did not do much

school work.While Chris enjoyed the freedom to socialise with his friends and his parents did not know anything about his weekend activities, Rachel (Chris's younger sister) did baby sitting (part time job) on Friday evening and Saturday morning. On Saturday evening her parents dropped her at her friend's place to watch a video movie. The parents went for dinner in the city and picked up Rachel on the way home. Children from the other families also socialised with their friends in a similar fashion as Chris did. In school they socialised with their peers (in the isolated areas where some staff members on yard supervision reported the cases of smoking). Chris and Clint often cut classes and went surfing. Parents found it hard to control their children. Mrs. Morrison explained: The older they grow the harder it is to control them. I allow them to watch T.V. as

long as they want because I would rather them relax and feel happy at home than wander around the district because they are bored. Sometime Don lets them drink light beer at home so that they don't drink with their friends.

At home, Chris, Glenn and Clint spent most of their time sleeping, watching video or television. Parents had very little control over their activities. Frustrations of other parents were represented by Mrs. Marshall.

When Chris was in grade 10 he got a part time job. He got the taste of money and taste of beer at the youth club. He got the taste of birds (girls). He started to go downhill in his grades. (grinding her teeth) I wish I had some power to change his mind... Sometimes I'd like to wring his neck.Taking me to Chris's study/bedroom, Mr. Marshall said:

Look at this shit everywhere. Dirty clothes and shoes are lying on his bed. Posters of birds (girls) are on the wall. T.V. on his study desk and stereo on his bed. Look at all this filth written on his school bag. How can he study? We have tried everything but nothing works on him. We gave up.The study rooms of Krista and Rachel were quite neat and clean which were in sharp contrast to the boys' rooms in the same families. After observing the behavioural pattern for several months I summed up in my observer's comments: There is hardly any indication of order and routine in the living

patterns of Chris, Glenn, Clint and Ben. Except for Ben, they leave and return home at will. Ben spends enormous amount of time training for baseball and Aussie rules football. When at home they function almost totally independently of their parents, in that parental guidance and supervision are minimal. Parents cannot dictate their terms to their children. In the company of their friends and parents, they spend time on leisure and sports related activities. Time and space orientations are largely determined by them rather than their parents. Parental expectations about school work are loose and inconsistent. There are no firm guidelines to motivate them toward school work. Rachel is the ideal child in the Marshall family whose academic orientation and cheerful disposition are admired by teachers and parents. Krista demands freedom to have fun with her friends but her authoritarian mother does not allow her, resulting in frequent arguments. All of them spend most of their spare time socialising with their friends, doing part time jobs or playing organised sports.

Lack of Commitment to Education Although all parents were keen to see their children do well at school and complete TEE or TAFE course, not all of them were committed to the idea of sending them to the university. Each family had provided plenty of educational resources. Except for Rachel, who was very committed to school work, other children took the school work quite lightly. All of them had dropped their grades as they progressed through the school to grade 12. The parents' own experience of school was not very pleasant. Most of them had dropped out of school after grade 10. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan and Mr. Smith got their tertiary education as part time students. When these parents were in high school they were very keen on sports. Thus, the commitment of parents to education was not as intense as that of the Chinese-Australian parents. Parents like the Morrisons were keen to see their children study at the university but they were not sure how to encourage them. Mrs Morrison explained: I want to help them in their homework but I do not know how to do it. When they were small kids they listened to what I told them but now they don't listen. Don

(husband) and I want them to do well at school but we are not sure how to guide them to study. Because they are in higher grades than we did, we find it hard to help them. There are so many books at home but they seldom use them...They go to their rooms and pretend to study. And I know how much work Glenn would do with his loud stereo and closed door... They do not keep a homework diary. They complain that homework is boring. For Glenn 'near enough is good enough'. They like to read comic books only. I tell them to read through their files to revise their notes but they get cross with me and sometimes there is a big argument. I try to make them realise the importance of study and homework now so that in future they will have good education behind them. I put the T.V. on to watch news, current affairs and documentary but they like to watch programs like sports and pop music or late movies. They are interested in reading books on surfing and fishing like Don. They don't borrow books from the school library. To the local libraries they may go two or three times a year.Parents in these families had provided quality educational material but they were not sosuccessful to form good study habits and motivate their children to use these resources.Occasional outbursts of parents simply alienated their children from studies even more. Whenever Mr. Morgan used coercive techniques to ask Ben to do his homework the latter closed his door and pretended to study but parents found him half asleep in his bed with his book lying on his chest Mrs. Morgan explained: If his door is half closed it means he is studying. If the door is fully closed he is asleep. Ben is very lazy. He likes to follow his [successful] older brother but he does not apply himself. Books do not interest him much. There are so many books

at home and the local library is around the corner but he does not borrow books often.

Grinding her teeth in anger Mrs Marshall said about Chris:

Books put him to sleep. Surf magazines and girls keep him awake. Most of his time goes in eating, sleeping and listening to music. What upsets us most is that he does not take interest in his work. He is lazy and disorganised.

An authoritarian Mrs. Smith described her frustrations with Krista:

Last night my parents stayed for dinner until 10.30. While we were in the family room Krista went to her room. She was playing computer games. I said, "Krista you are supposed to be studying". She said, "I don't have much home homework to do". At 11 she started to do her studies. I switched off the lights and said, "You go to bed young lady. You had a plenty of time to catch up with studies". She did not like it. I cannot trust her on phone at night while I am asleep. She snaps at me. I snap at her.Even though the Marshalls, Morrisons and Morgans had high expectations from their children they were unable to create the intrinsic interest in them children for schoolwork.Consequently, these children did not pursue their studies with keen interest. Sporadic,piecemeal and inconsistent familial efforts contributed to their children's lack-lustre academic success. Ben's is a typical case. In 1995, Ben had enrolled in Year 11. He had selected six TEE subjects including higher months and chemistry. These subjects demanded a lot of homework. Although Ben had increased the amount of time doinghomework, his commitment to sports and a part time job remained unaltered. He had been selected by the Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) for baseball. At the end of Year 11 Ben had dropped higher maths and chemistry and had selected much easier TEE/TAFE subjects. Other children also had followed Ben's example. Instead of providing extra help (like a private tutor) parents advised their children to drop difficult subjects and take a combination of TEE and TAFE subjects. The catch phrase in these families was "You choose what interests you most". When Clint did not do well in Year 11 he decided tostudy TAFE subjects. Mr. Morrison welcomed Clint's decision. "This is the way to go. You don't have to kill yourself. You study what you enjoy". When Krista dropped out of school in Year 11 Mr. Smith said, "I will not be disappointed if Krista decided not to study at the university". Even the high achiever Rachel was advised by her parents to drop higher maths and chemistry in Year 12 and select easier subjects and a non-TEE subject. Chris had failed TEE and dropped out in his second attempt to pass

TEE. His parents were not disappointed with his performance. Mrs. Marshall said: We don't believe Chris is a low achiever. He is happy and content and is enjoying his life. In our eyes he is a high achiever. If he feels this way about life, perhaps he

has achieved much more than many others. We are pleased with both of our children's achievements as they are happy, friendly young adults. It is their individual choices which have affected their achievements. We left up to Chris to make his choice to continue his studies and he took sole responsibility for his actions. He finally made the choice to discontinue his studies. We were contented with his decision as long as it pleased him.Morrisons were happy that Clint had completed Year 12 with TAFE subjects. If their younger son Glenn could do the same (which he did in 1996) they would be very satisfied.Morgans would have been quite satisfied if Ben had studied TAFE subjects. Thus, parents in these families had set low expectations in studies but they were very much involved in their sports related activities. Consequently, they excelled in sports but academically performed poorly.Discussion Children from the Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families did not differ a great deal in ability at the start of their high school education at Paramount Senior High. By the time they finished their Year 12 there was a marked difference in their performance and achievements. In fact, the Chinese-Australian children started with a clear disadvantage of language problems and social adjustment. Except for Lee Tuan Kok all of the Chinese-Australian children had either enrolled at the university or in 1996 they were well on target to reach there. Lee Tuan Kok had chosen to study horticulture at a TAFE college. By comparison, except for Rachel Marshall none of the Anglo-Australian child was planning to study at the university. Clint Morrison had completed one year at TAFE college to get a certificate as occupational therapist, Krista after dropping out in 1995 had re-enrolled in 1996. She wanted to be a lawyer but she had changed her mind to be a social worker. She had moved out of her parents' home. Rachel wanted to be a lawyer but later had decided to be a Japanese-English interpreter. Unlike her brother Chris, she was doing very well to reach her stated goal. After failing TEE Chris had moved out of his parents home and had found a job in a country town as a fruit- picker. Glenn had persisted to study non-TEE subjects and started to work as a full time employee in a fast food stall. Ben was undecided. Depending on his TEE results in December, 1996 he would decide to enrol at TAFE college or the

university course, possibly to be a physical education teacher. How do we account for this widening gap in the academic performance of children from these families? What differences have school and homes made? How have students' own values affected their attitudes toward school work? In terms of the provision of the educational resources and other physical facilities these children were well equipped. All parents wanted them to do well at school. However, in terms of their expectations from their children and involvement in their school related activities Chinese-Australian parents tended to be similar to each other in sharp contrast to the Anglo-Australian families who valued sports and leisure activities as much as the education of their children. Strong commitment to the education of their children and tight control over their after-school time were the key features of the Chinese-Australian families. By their own admission, these families primarily came for the education of their children. The values, attitudes, educational attainment and economic status of parents prior to their immigration, plus their experiences and perceptions of the opportunities in the host country, appeared to be critical in their socialisation processes of their children. As Takanishi (1990, P.359)

noted that the children of parents who were middle class professionals but in the host country own small businesses are likely to have the attitudes and values that place great emphasis on educational and economic success. Study of these four Chinese-Australian families support Takanishi's hypothesis. In their own countries these parents had struggled to get tertiary education and had realised the importance of education. In Australia they found it hard to get jobs commensurate to their qualifications and experience. Consequently, they ended up either being self-employed (e.g. the Goh family) in the "middle man migrant economy" (Light, 1972), like Cheong family. They accepted low status jobs in order to provide economic security for the family and cultural and social capital (Coleman, 1988) for the education of their children. Their perception of some sort of discrimination against the immigrants strengthened their resolve and intense commitment to achieve status by investing in the education of their children. The folk theory (Ogbu, 1987) to success of the Chinese-Australian families appeared to have its roots in their cultural values which emphasise impulse control, deferment of short term gratification, effort and scholastic achievement. This lends support to Ogbu's (1987) cultural thesis which purports that the Asian minority groups are voluntary immigrants. They perceive their social identity as primarily different from the social identity of the dominant society. Initially, the immigrants tend to accept the dominant group's folk theory of getting ahead with the belief that they can ahead through hard work, school success and individual ability. Gibson noted, "Parents of immigrant children are more willing to work hard at low paying jobs and to endure prejudice because from their

perspective there will be a return from their investment"(1987, p. 273). This is precisely the pathway these families have followed. Coming from the large urban cities, with middle class values and with ancient culture which traditionally has valued education Chinese-Australian parents gave secondary importance to their own interests and saw the vision of social mobility through their children by encouraging them to work hard at school to get good grades in order to facilitate their entry in tertiary institutions to pursue professional degrees. To achieve this goal the Chinese-Australian families adopted the approach which Gibson (1983) called "acculturation without assimilation" or "alternation model" (Ogbu, 1984). According to this model while immigrants may not give up their cultural benefits and practices they strive to play the classroom game by the rules and try to overcome all kinds of difficulties in school because they believe so strongly that there will be a pay off later. It is, perhaps, this belief system which explains parents' strong involvement with their children and their protection strategies from the peer group influence. Parents in these families acted strongly to overcome their children's initial problems, adjust socially and motivate them to take school work seriously. In each family children were guided and encouraged to develop good academic habits and perseverance. They recognised that schooling was the primary avenue to higher paying and less physically strenuous jobs for their children. Smolicz and Wiseman (1971, p.8) call it "migrant drive" which was noticeable in these families. To get professional jobs parents demanded good grades from their children and the latter responded to their parents' demand. Anglo-Australian families, on the other hand, followed a more diversified approach for the schooling of their children. From the primary school age they encouraged their children to participate in organised sports and they remained involved in sports and leisure activities of their children right through the high school. The Anglo-Australian parents were not driven by the migrant drive. These parents had diverse goals but sports dominated.

Conclusions Study of these families provides strong evidence to suggest that Chinese-Australian parents make greater sacrifices on their own time, interests and resources compared to the Anglo-Australian families. Their children internalise their parents' values and they take their school work seriously. The pathways the Chinese-Australian families choose to motivate their children is partly based on their cultural values which emphasise scholastic excellence and partly their own experiences in their native country as well as in the host country. Parents build their lives around their children's education. Customarily, activities taking place in the Chinese-Australian homes are related to the education of their children. Parents hold high expectations and set high goals for their children and remain physically and emotionally involved with them. Regular family

discussion on educational matters and career pathways have a modelling effect. The key feature of these families is that parental involvement in their children's school-related activities remains high throughout the high school time of their children. The latter oblige their parents by working hard at school work. The Anglo-Australian parents revolve their life style around sports and leisure activities. Education of their children does not play a key role in their day to day routine. Their conception of life is that while education is very important for getting in the workforce, children should be socialised to enjoy life and for an all round personality extra curricular activities are essential. Like the Chinese-Australian parents, the Anglo-Australian parents provide the cultural capital in their homes but there is a dearth of social capital, an essential ingredient for cognitive socialisation of children. Parents leave it for their children to make their own decision as to what to study and how much they should study. The life-style of the Anglo-Australian parents is such that their children are strongly affected by their peers. In the process parents start losing control over their children. Encouragement in part time jobs, organised sports and household chores coupled with parents' own experiences in school send clear signals to their children that early economic independence and participation in sports are important. Perhaps it is this belief which explains why Anglo-Australian parents are satisfied with the mediocre performance of their children. There is a consistent evidence from these families that parents have lower academic standards and their children accept lower standards and they do not study as hard as their Chinese-Australian counterparts. The difficulty the Anglo-Australian parents have in demanding high standard of work from their children is that they do not place great emphasis on academic achievement. Education does not play as central a role in the Anglo-Australian conception as it does for the Chinese-Australians. The school system tends to favour the Chinese-Australian children more than it does the Anglo-Australians because with their positive attitude toward schooling and docility predispositions (Ho, 1994) the former impress their teachers who interact with them in a warm and positive manner. Thus, the culture of the Chinese-Australian homes tends to match the culture of the school. The Chinese-Australian children have a dual advantage: academically supportive homes and teachers who reward students who follow the rules of the classroom and try hard. To sum up, in their drive for academic excellence the Chinese-Australian parents push their children far beyond their limits. Mental illness of Lee Tuan Kok and occasional depressions of Man Pui Kwang were stress-related problems caused by the very demanding homes. On the positive side the Chinese-Australian parents had succeeded to convert the average children into high achievers. While Morrisons and Morgans had produced fine athletes in Clint and Ben, lack of parental involvement and encouragement in the academic activities and parents'

life style appeared to account for their children's low academic performance.

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