abstract 217 Forum School as an arena for activating cultural capital Understanding differences in parental involvement in school UNN-DORIS KARLSEN BÆCK The input of capital into the Norwegian educational system is among the highest in the world. Despite this, national and in- ternational research shows that Norwegian schools attain me- diocre to poor results on a variety of measures of school quality (Lie, Kjærnsli, Roe & Turmo, 2001; OECD, 2001; Solheim, Tønnesen & Oftedal, 2002). The PISA report 1 demonstrates that the differences among Norwegian pupils are greater than in most comparable countries, and that many Norwegian pu- pils are poorly skilled. In addition, the learning environments of Norwegian schools are among the weakest in the OECD re- garding disturbance in the classroom and lack of motivation and discipline among pupils. The problems are worse in lower secondary schools (Grepperud, 2000; Hovdenak, 2001; UFD, 2002). In Norway, it is well established that there are also significant differences in educational achievements, preferences and ca- reers among pupils from different social and cultural back- grounds (e.g. Arnesen, 2003; Bjørnson, 1996; Colbjørnsen, 1987; Karlsen, 2001; Raaum, 2003; Severeide, 1988,). For in- Karlsen Bæck Unn-Doris, 2005: School as an arena for activating cultural capital: Understanding differences in parental involve- ment in school. Nordisk Peda- gogik, Vol 25, pp. 217–228. Oslo. ISSN 0901-8050. Research shows that differences in parental involvement are important for explaining differ- ences in educational prefer- ences, aspirations and achieve- ments among pupils. In this arti- cle the aim is to show that Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and capital can serve as a theo- retical basis for understanding differences in parental involve- ment among different groups of parents. Encounters between schools and parents are regarded as cultural encounters where different forms of cultural capital are activated, and differ- ences in cultural capital between different groups of parents and schools may result in varying conditions of interaction. Parents from lower social backgrounds fail in their interactions with schools because their cultural capital differs from that assumed and favoured by the educational system. Unn-Doris Karlsen Bæck, NORUT Social Science Research Ltd., Tromsø Science Park, PO Box 6434, NO-9294 Tromsø, Norway. E-mail: unn.doris.baeck@samf.norut.no