From school-family links to social capital: Urban and rural distinctions in teacher and parent networks in Cyprus

This article reports on a multiple case study that explored teachers' and families' collaboration in two urban and four rural state elementary schools in Cyprus. The analysis of the data shows that teachers' approaches to their collaboration with families may be traced not only to differences among teachers but also to the ideological approach of the parents' community to schooling and school-family relationships. The study suggests that teacher-family networks and how these relate to different parent ideologies can be beneficially used to actively strengthen social network closure between the school and the students' homes that could lead to improved learning.