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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) commonly struggle to acquire needed financial, human, and technological resources. The above being stated, recent scholarly research argues that SMEs that are able to successfully navigate the legitimacy threshold are better able to gather the resources they need to survive and grow. This article provides an empirical test of that claim by examining whether the presence of a corporate parent positively influences SME resource acquisition. Results of the study show that SMEs with corporate parents, when compared to like-sized independent SMEs, have higher credit scores, have more complete management teams, use more computers, and are more likely to be on the Internet. These differences are most pronounced for very small firms and diminish in significance as firm size increases. Study implications include the notion that presence of a corporate parent likely represents a successful navigation of the legitimacy threshold, positively increasing SME resource acquisition.

This study aims to examine the contribution of informal encounters outside the school walls between local Israeli families from “Waldorf Education” and immigrant families from Africa from formal state education and explore the consequences of these encounters on the development of lifelong learning competences. Research questions are as follows: In what way do non-formal encounters lead to the development of lifelong learning ability? What are the challenges and consequences of non-formal activity for research participants, families and educators from the pedagogical, social and personal perspectives?

The research uses a qualitative-interpretive case study approach that allows for in-depth observation of the phenomenon within the context of reality to understand the case, a non-formal encounter between two groups of parents from different cultures, languages and educational attitudes. In this case study, it is possible to generalize from the local to the global and examine processes, actions and behaviors in the studied case (Creswell et al., 2018; Yin, 2009). This empirical study allows description, analysis, understanding and explanation of the challenges and actions in organizing and holding non-formal encounters from personal experiences as a first source.

The analysis of the data brought up two main categories that represent the actions and insights from the non-formal encounters for developing lifelong learning competences: create a personal dialogue to strengthen trust and confidence; foster parental involvement. Non-formal encounters between families from different cultural-social backgrounds may promote lifelong learning competences such as tolerance, inclusion and openness. However, external intervention by a social association is required to organize, support and operate them.

The research’s limitation was that it was conducted in the country’s center. Therefore, the findings must be considered in the context in which they are presented and not generalized to other regions or communities from other cultures in Israel and the world. A few limited encounters may affect the author’s interpretation of the study data. In addition, expressions of “social desire” that may be expressed in interviews must be considered.

This study emphasizes social activism. Despite all the differences and tensions, creating an equal space in the families’ encounters is essential for lifelong learning. The immigrant parents participated in decision-making, the stages of organization and the activities themselves during the encounters. This partnership strengthened their commitment and responsibility. Because they are a powerless minority group, it should not be assumed that two encounters will improve their self-confidence. The proof is that fewer participants came to the last encounter. Education experts must maintain consistency and continuity in forming partnerships with immigrant families over time and as part of lifelong learning.

The non-formal encounters between the two groups of families create an atmosphere of equality: all are parents of children seeking to inculcate humane and social values. The collaborative atmosphere contributed to the understanding that closeness overpowers distance. Everyone is troubled by similar issues of parenting, enjoyment of children, nutritious food and a shared desire to be good citizens while maintaining tolerance, reciprocity and respect.

Non-formal encounters are actively performed to create belonging when the “others and we” join together for the community and the children. This is an extensive, open and accessible platform for strengthening social consciousness and understanding the connection between teaching, culture and society to promote equality in education. This study will allow schools to expand the boundaries of communication with parents and initiate additional activities with other social groups to foster children’s integration. It will enrich the academic knowledge about connections and communication of educators, families from Israel and immigrant families in developing a partnership in the school to promote lifelong learning.

Schools have long been perceived as an ideal setting to support the healthy eating behaviours of children. The aim of the study was to examine the views of Australian primary school parents regarding school food and nutrition, including education, practices and policy.

An online survey was conducted among 787 parents in March 2021, which included closed and open-ended questions.

The results indicated the inconsistent implementation of policies and/or varying practices among different schools. Parents’ views were slightly associated with some demographic and personal measures including their SES levels, education, age, the main language spoken at home and universalism values. Parents viewed healthy food provision through canteens, policies and informing parents, fruit and vegetable breaks and kitchen and garden programs as the main contributors to the promotion of healthy eating. They believed unhealthy options in canteens, school fairs, events and birthdays are the major contributors to the formation of unhealthy eating habits among children at schools. Results revealed the efforts to establish health promoting school food environments in Australian primary schools; however, inconsistencies and discrepancies among schools should be addressed to ensure equity among all children.

The findings may provide directions for policymakers and school managers and can inform future reforms and initiatives in Australian primary schools and elsewhere.

This is the first study that has examined Australian parents’ views of school food policy, practices and environments using a mixed-methods design.

This paper describes the parent–child relationships of upper-middle-class Chinese parents and their adolescent children who were “parachuted” to the United States for private high schools. With parents remaining in China and children in the United States, thousands of miles away, such a transnational educational arrangement complicates the already volatile parent–child relationships during the adolescent years. Through ethnographic interviews of 41 students and 33 parents, I demonstrate different forms of child–parent relationships in a transnational education setting: those who found that the further physical and temporal distance has brought the parent–child relationship closer through frequent communications, children who experienced “accelerated growth” yet questioned the necessity, and delicate parent–child relationships due to increasing transnational cross-cultural or intergenerational differences. These types of parent–child relationships are not comprehensive of all the lived experiences of the “parachute generation,” yet they shed new light on transnational education and the unintended emotional dimensions of educational migration. In a transnational context for an economically well-off group, parental absence or separation of children and parents is no longer a clear-cut concept and has different layers of meanings, taking into account the frequency of communication, duration of spring and winter breaks and the existence of third-party agents such as for-profit intermediaries (or educational consultants) and host families. The diverse patterns of parent–child relations reveal the heterogeneity and complexities of “doing family” across geographic spaces and global educational hierarchies, as well as the roles of communication technologies, the tempo of mobilities and educational intermediaries.

This chapter examines the lifestyles of upper-middle- and upper-class return migrant parents and youth living in Bangalore, a city in southwest India. It does so by addressing the following questions: What benefits do return migrant parents see in raising their children within their country of ethnic origin? What are the experiences of youth who grow up within their country of ethnic origin? I answer these questions by analysing 95 conversations with return migrant parents and their children, as well as alumni of Bangalore-based high schools. Building upon literature related to parenting, social class and racial-ethnic socialisation, I discuss parents' efforts to produce children who have the skills needed to succeed within the twenty-first-century global economy, and how the youth experience these child-rearing practices.