Conference Agenda

The proposed panel discussion focuses on the role of family background—particularly financial situation, cultural consumption, and settlement context—in shaping parents’ choices of supplementary activities in kindergarten, with special attention to early foreign language provision. While early childhood education and care (ECEC) is widely recognised as a key area for reducing social inequalities, access to supplementary preschool activities often reflects and reproduces existing social differences. The panel aims to explore how these mechanisms operate within the Hungarian ECEC system and how they relate to broader European and international patterns.

Supplementary kindergarten activities—such as foreign languages, sports, dance, chess, or religious education—are usually optional programmes that extend beyond the core curriculum. Although they are often presented as opportunities for enrichment and early skill development, participation in these activities is strongly influenced by families’ social, financial, and cultural resources. The panel addresses the tension between the compensatory role of ECEC and the early reproduction of inequality through differentiated access to such programmes.

Based on our review of the literature, we formulated three research questions and three hypotheses for our study:

1. What factors influence parents' decisions regarding supplementary kindergarten activities among families from different social backgrounds?

2. How do the chances of choosing certain types of activities (foreign languages, sports, dance, religious education, chess) vary depending on the type of settlement, financial situation, and cultural consumption?

3. Which social resources prove to be the strongest predictors in the choice of preschool activities?

H1: Parents living in cities are more likely to choose extra preschool activities than those living in villages.

H2: The more favorable the family's financial situation, the more likely parents are to choose costly activities (e.g., foreign languages, chess).

The primary objective of the panel is to foster a comparative and critical discussion on how early social selection processes emerge within ECEC systems, and how policy and institutional practices might mitigate or exacerbate these inequalities. By situating the Hungarian case within a wider European and international context, the panel aims to contribute to ongoing debates on equity, accessibility, and social justice in early childhood education.

The panel draws on interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives from sociology of education and early childhood studies. Key reference points include theories of social reproduction and cultural capital, particularly Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital Zsolnai, 2006), which highlights how family practices and values shape children’s early learning opportunities. Coleman’s work on educational inequality (Coleman, 1966) and Heckman’s (2011a, 2011b) economic arguments on early investment provide a broader framework for understanding why early differences in access matter for later life outcomes.

In addition, international ECEC policy frameworks—such as the OECD’s Starting Strong reports (2015, 2018, 2021)—offer an important lens for interpreting the findings in relation to quality, inclusiveness, and equal access. These perspectives allow the panel to connect micro-level parental decision-making processes with macro-level policy and institutional structures.

Although the empirical focus is Hungary, the issues addressed are highly relevant across Europe and beyond. Many ECEC systems face similar challenges regarding the differentiation of early learning opportunities and the uneven distribution of supplementary programmes. The panel invites reflection on how national traditions, institutional arrangements, and local availability interact with family resources in shaping early educational trajectories.

By bringing together perspectives on parental choice, institutional responsibility, and policy implications, the panel aims to stimulate dialogue among researchers working in different European contexts. The discussion will highlight both common patterns and context-specific differences, contributing to a deeper understanding of how early childhood education can either reduce or reinforce social inequalities at a very early stage.

It is known that the basis of mental health emerges in the interplay between developmental contexts (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). One crucial context is home. It has been shown that not only family-related difficulties, but also positive experiences of parenting have lasting effects on young people's lives. Although several home environment related risk factors — such as parental psychological control (Barber, 2002) and neglectful parenting (Haslam & Taylor, 2022) — have been identified to relate children’s and adolescents’ well-being, much less is known about how young adults incorporate these experiences into their life stories (Babu et al., 2024; Vasbø & Hegna, 2025) and evolving narrative identities (McAdams & McLean, 2013). Thus, it is essential not only to examine how parents support their children, but also to understand how the children subjectively construct a perception of who they are and what they can achieve (McAdams & McLean, 2013). This study responds to this need by asking: How do young adults position their parents and themselves when narrating parental support during their school path?