This paper analyses a specific kind of choice, choice of the local school, by a specific middle class group, characterized by its high cultural capital, its 'caring' perspective and liberal political orientation Using the same open-ended schedule, 28 interviews were carried out in one London locality and 38 in a similar locality in the Parisian periphery (plus 12 others in a nearby private school). Its main purpose was to use a cross-Channel comparison to test and enrich a comprehen-sive model of school choice that tries to take into account the complex interaction between policies, strategies, contexts, resources and values.

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This article examines policy mediation and adaptation in a context where religious, ethnic and other cultural identities are not officially recognised in the public sphere but considered part of the private sphere. French educational policy is firmly rooted within a secular Republican framework which relies on a colour-blind approach to promote equality. The article draws on 53 interviews with parents in Greater Paris, which were undertaken as part of a comparative study of urban parents' values and attitudes regarding education and school choice, conducted in collaboration with the London Institute of Education in 2004-05. The focus is on parents' perceptions of religious and ethnic diversity at school, and the interview data is contrasted to the Republican ideology dominant in official rhetoric. What is seen playing across and through these interviews is how the range of discourse available to parents is embedded in and constrained by cultural, political and educational traditions and values. However, far from endorsing official rhetoric wholesale, many parents question, adapt and mediate secular Republican ideals, raising the issue of the relevance and durability of the French model of integration.

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