International Association of Educators   |  ISSN: 2834-7919   |  e-ISSN: 1554-5210
International Journal of Progressive Education
International Association of Educators

Original article | International Journal of Progressive Education 2020, Vol. 16(2) 230-247

A School Choice Experience at the Age of "Parentocracy": Impressions from a Public Primary School in Turkey

Halil Buyruk

pp. 230 - 247   |  DOI: https://doi.org/10.29329/ijpe.2020.241.16   |  Manu. Number: MANU-1909-19-0002.R1

Published online: April 02, 2020  |   Number of Views: 187  |  Number of Download: 837

Save PDF

Abstract

This article investigates the school choice practices of middle-class[1] parents. It aims to find out what kind of strategies and practices parents have in the school choice process. For this aim, data were obtained through interviews with parents of students attending a primary school in an affluent area in Ankara. The results of the study show that parents with adequate economic, social and cultural capital are influential in their children's educational processes and develop various strategies for school choice. They strive to choose the best school they think will contribute to their children in gaining a better position in the labour market in the future. It is noteworthy that the most important factor in primary school choice is teacher quality. This is followed by features such as the location of the school, teacher-student relationship, security and the physical facilities in the school. The social capital of parents has an important part in the school choice process and the social networks in which they are involved determine the school choice processes considerably. Since the enrolment of students in primary schools in Turkey is address-based, parents wishing to enrol their children in other schools develop various strategies during the enrolment process, notably “address change”.

 

[1] Although defining middle class is quite difficult and controversial, an operational definition can be made with reference to lifestyle, education, occupation, income, culture and consumption habits. In this study, middle class refers to people who are educated, having a profession, having middle income, living in an affluent area and joining cultural activities.

Keywords: School Choice, Parentocracy, Inequality, Social Capital

How to Cite this Article?

APA 6th edition
Buyruk, H. (2020). A School Choice Experience at the Age of "Parentocracy": Impressions from a Public Primary School in Turkey . International Journal of Progressive Education, 16(2), 230-247. doi: 10.29329/ijpe.2020.241.16

Harvard
Buyruk, H. (2020). A School Choice Experience at the Age of "Parentocracy": Impressions from a Public Primary School in Turkey . International Journal of Progressive Education, 16(2), pp. 230-247.

Chicago 16th edition
Buyruk, Halil (2020). "A School Choice Experience at the Age of "Parentocracy": Impressions from a Public Primary School in Turkey ". International Journal of Progressive Education 16 (2):230-247. doi:10.29329/ijpe.2020.241.16.
References
  1. Balcı, A. (2014). Etkili Okul-Okul Geliştirme: Kuram Uygulama ve Araştırma [Effective school-school development: Theory, practice and research]. Ankara: PegemA Yayıncılık. [Google Scholar]
  2. Ball, J., Bowe, R. and Gewirtz, S. (1996). School choices, social class and distinction: The realisation of social advantage in education. Journal of Education Policy, 2(1), 89–112. [Google Scholar]
  3. Ball, S. J. and Vincent, C. (1998). ‘I heard it on the grapevine’: ‘Hot’ knowledge and school choice. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 19(3), 377–400. [Google Scholar]
  4. Baudelot, C. and Establet, R. (1971). L’Ecole capitaliste en France. Paris: Maspéro. [Google Scholar]
  5. Bernstein, B. (1971). Class, codes and control, Vol. 1. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. [Google Scholar]
  6. Brown, P. (1990). The 'third wave': Education and the ideology of parentocracy. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 11(1), 65–85. Available at: www.jstor.org/stable/1392913 (Accessed 10 September 2018). [Google Scholar]
  7. Brown, P. (2000). The globalisation of positional competition? Sociology, 34(4), 633–653. [Google Scholar]
  8. Bosetti, L. (2000). Alberta charter schools: paradox and promises, Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 46(2), 179–190. [Google Scholar]
  9. Bosetti, L. (2004). Determinants of school choice: understanding how parents choose elementary schools in Alberta. Journal of Education Policy, 19(4), 387-405.  [Google Scholar]
  10. Bourdieu, P. (2006). Pratik Nedenler [Practical Reason] (H. U. Tanrıöver, Çev.). İstanbul: Hil yayın [Google Scholar]
  11. Bourdieu, P. and Passeron, J. C. (1990). Theory, culture & society. Reproduction in education, society and culture (2nd ed.) R. Nice) (Trans.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. [Google Scholar]
  12. Bowles, S. and Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers.  [Google Scholar]
  13. Bussel, H. (1999). Choosing a school: The impact of social class on the primary school decision-making process. International Journal of Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 5(4), 373-387. [Google Scholar]
  14. Clarke, J., Gewirtz, S. and McLaughlin, E. (2000). Reinventing the welfare state. J. Clarke, S. Gewirtz and E. McLaughlin (Eds) New Managerialism, New Welfare? (pp. 1-27). London: Sage Publications. [Google Scholar]
  15. Coldron, J. and Boulton, P. (1991). Happiness' as a criterion of parents' choice of school. Journal of Education Policy, 6(2), 169-178. [Google Scholar]
  16. Coleman, J. S. (1994). Foundations of social theory. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.  [Google Scholar]
  17. Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. [Google Scholar]
  18. Cucchiara, M. B. and Horvat, E. M. (2014). Choosing selves: The salience of parental identity in the school choice process. Journal of Education Policy, 29(4), 486–509. [Google Scholar]
  19. Çimen, C. A. (2015). Differentiating children through education: school choices and educational practices of middle-class families in neoliberal times. Phd thesis, Bosphorus University, Istanbul. [Google Scholar]
  20. Dempster, N., Freakley, M. and Parry, L. (2001). The ethical climate of public schooling under new public management. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 4(1), 1-12. [Google Scholar]
  21. Duru-Bellat, M. and Kieffer, A. (2000). Inequalities in educational opportunities in France: Educational expansion, democratization or shifting barriers? Journal of Education Policy, 15(3), 333-352.  [Google Scholar]
  22. Evans, M. (2014). Soccer Moms Unıte! Affluent families and the utilization of grassroots strategies for education reform. Interchange, 45(1–2), 85–114. [Google Scholar]
  23. Fusarelli, L. D. and Johnson, B. (2004). Educational governance and the new public management. Public Administration and Management, 9(2), 118-127. [Google Scholar]
  24. Fine, B. (2001). Social capital versus social theory: Political economy and social science at the turn of the millennium. London and New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  25. Gewirtz, S., Ball, S. and Bowe, R. (1995). Markets, choice and equity in education. Buckingham: Open University Press. [Google Scholar]
  26. Giddens, A. (2008). Sosyoloji [Sociology]. İstanbul: Kırmızı Yayınları. [Google Scholar]
  27. Harris, A. (2002). School Improvement: What is in it for schools? London: Routledge Falmer. [Google Scholar]
  28. Hatcher, R. (1998). Class differentiation in education: rational choices? British Journal of Education, 19(1): 5–24. [Google Scholar]
  29. Hopkins, D. (2001). School Improvement for Real. London: Routledge Falmer. [Google Scholar]
  30. Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. 2nd Edition. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. [Google Scholar]
  31. Lareau, A. and Weininger, E. B. (2003). Cultural capital in educational research: A Critical assessment. Theory & Society 32(5/6), 567–606. [Google Scholar]
  32. Levin, H. (2002). A comprehensive framework for evaluating educational vouchers. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(3), 159–174. [Google Scholar]
  33. Lincoln, Y. S. and Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. [Google Scholar]
  34. Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. [Google Scholar]
  35. Raveaud, M. and Zanten, A. V. (2007). Choosing the local school: middle class parents' values and social and ethnic mix in London and Paris. Journal of Education Policy, 22(1), 107-124.  [Google Scholar]
  36. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Third Edition. London: Sage Publications, Inc. [Google Scholar]
  37. Reay, D., Crozier, G. and James, D. (2013). White middle-class identities and urban schooling. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. [Google Scholar]
  38. Schofer, E. and Meyer, J. W. (2005). The worldwide expansion of higher education in the twentieth century. American Sociological Review, 70(6), 898-920.   [Google Scholar]
  39. Smrekar, C. and Goldring, E. (1999). School choice in urban America: magnet schools and the pursuit of equity. New York: Teachers’ College Press. [Google Scholar]
  40. Swingewood, A. (2000). A Short history of sociological thought. New York: St. Martin’s Press. [Google Scholar]
  41. Şimşek, H. and Yıldırım, A. (2006). Sosyal Bilimlerde Nitel Araştırma Yöntemleri [Qualitative research methods in social sciences]. Ankara: Seçkin Yayıncılık. [Google Scholar]
  42. Vincent, C., Rollock, N., Ball, S. and Gillborn, D. (2012). Being strategic, being watchful, being determined: Black middle-class parents and schooling. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33(3), 337–354. [Google Scholar]
  43. Waldow, F. (2016). Meritocracy and parentocracy – mutually exclusive or complementary? M. Elmgren, M. Folke-Fichtelius, S. Hallsen, H. Roman and W. Wermke (Eds.) Att ta utbildningens komplexitet pa allvar. Uppsala Universitet (pp. 311-327). Sweden: Uppsala Universitet. [Google Scholar]
  44. Wacquant, L. (2007). Pierre Bourdieu: Hayatı Eserleri ve Entelektüel Gelişimi. G. Çeğin, E. Göker, A. Arlı, Ü. Tatlıcan (Eds.) Ocak ve Zanaat: Pierre Bourdieu Derlemesi (pp. 53-76). İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları. [Google Scholar]
  45. Whitty, G., Power, S. and Halpin, D. (1998). Devolution and choice in education: the school, the state and the market. Buckingham: Open University Press. [Google Scholar]
  46. Woods, P. A. (1993). Responding to the consumer: Parental choice and school effectiveness, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 4(3), 205–209.  [Google Scholar]
  47. Turner, B. (1997). Eşitlik [Equality] (B. S. Şener, Çev.). Ankara: Dost Kitabevi. [Google Scholar]
  48. Yin, R. K. (2002). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. [Google Scholar]
  49. Zanten, V. A. (2005). New Modes of Reproducing Social Inequality in Education: the changing role of parents, teachers, schools and educational policies. European Educational Research Journal, 4(3), 155-159. [Google Scholar]
Download
Metric
History
Related

Volume 16 Issue 2

April 2020

All Articles

International Journal of Progressive Education

International Association of Educators.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License.
Privacy policy     |     Terms of Use     |     Use of Cookies
Creative Commons Lisansı
© 2012 - 2024 - THDSoft e-Journal Management System.