CIRCUITS OF SCHOOLING - A SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF PARENTAL CHOICEOF SCHOOL IN SOCIAL-CLASS CONTEXTS

Parental choice of school is one of the main platforms of government e ducation policy and is the centre piece of the Parents Chater. But soc iological understanding of choice and choice-making is woefully underd eveloped. This paper draws on an ESRC study of market forces in educat ion to explore social class variations in choice of school in one spec ific locality. The complexity of choice-making is portrayed using data from interviews with parents and it is argued that middle-class paren ts are taking full advantage of 'the market' to sustain or re-assert t heir class advantages.