Mother's Intuition: Choosing Secondary Schools

Parental choice of school is a major policy issue. The 1988 Education Reform Act widened parental choice by creating a range of new types of school including Grant Maintained Schools and City Technology Colleges. In theory, at least, the balance of power between parents and schools as far as choice is concerned has thus altered in the direction of parents as decision makers. At the same time there have been changes in family patterns, creating a greater diversity of family situations in which children grow up. Who chooses their child/children's secondary school? Fathers? Mothers? The child/children? Using qualitative and quantitative data, the athors shed new light on the process of choosing secondary schools. From interviews with both parents and children, the authors demonstrate that the mother is the key player in the selection process. Throughout, the changing nature of families and the role of the parents is considered, in addition to the exploration of gender differences and variation between culturally diverse groupings. This insight into the choice of a child's secondary education shows how various factors such as parents' own educational values, their own educational experiences and those of their children, and their occupation, ethnicity and family situation influence this choice.