Gewirtz: Parental choice

Gewirtz: Parental choice

Marketisation benefits the middle class by creating inequalities between schools, by increasing parental choice, marketisation also benefits parents whose wealth and cultural capital puts them in a better position to choose 'good' schools.

• Gewirtz study of 14 London secondary schools. 
• Differences in how far they can exercise choice of secondary school.
• 3 main types of parents 
  • Privileged-skilled workers
  • Disconnected-local choosers 
  • Semi-skilled choosers

Privileged-skilled workers

•  Mainly middle class professional workers who used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children.
• Able to take full advantage of the choices open to them, understood how school admissons work, had the time to visit schools and research options available 
• …