Location³Education³: place, choice, constraint in London¹

Abstract

In this paper we draw on three studies of social class change amongst the middle classes undertaken in London over the last 25 years to reflect on the changing values expressed by respondents to school choice. We argue that there has been a hardening of attitudes to school performance and a loss of middle-class autonomy towards schooling. Increasingly we note a concern to navigate the few areas of privilege in a school system designed for working class children but now expected to cater for a vastly increased and educationally-anxious middle class. We specifically address the way in which choice of school has become enshrined in legislation but has itself become constrained by the lack of places in popular schools. We argue that the consequence has been to diminish the amount of choice and ensure that 'distance from school' becomes the sole arbiter of access to most popular schools. Thus an attempt at widening access to education has in effect restricted it to those able to access the housing markets nearest to the most popular schools. Taken together with a series of policy interventions designed to circumvent middle-class families playing the system, this has in effect reduced the element of choice by forcing most parents to play for the 'safe option' in the fear of being allocated to something worse. We conclude by suggesting that this policy is unsustainable in the longer term and suggest that the government policy of building new Academies is a means of re-engineering London's system of secondary education to reflect the aspirations of those living in its recently gentrified areas.

Disability, special educational needs, class, capitals, and segregation in schools: A population geography perspective

“…There is an implicit suggestion that “encounters” between different social groups can reduce social divisions (Valentine & Waite, ); although as we have emphasised, this is not automatic and will depend upon the contexts of encounters and children's agencies (Holt, Bowlby, & Lea, ). Complex interconnections exist between educational and residential segregation (Burgess & Briggs, ), and middle‐class parents deploy their capitals to ensure their children access “the best” educational spaces (Butler & Hamnett, ). Nonetheless, school segregation is often more entrenched than residential patterns (Johnston, Wilson, & Burgess, ).…”

Home-to-school transport in contemporary schooling contexts: an irony in motion

“…The system co-ordinated and run by LAs remains based on the idea of LA boundaries and 'school catchment areas'. This is set, ironically, within a context where LAs have a diminishing role in the funding and management of education and schools and there has been a general dismantling of the traditional idea of school catchments (Butler and Hamnett, 2011;DfE, 2011;Hamnett and Butler, 2013;Noden et al, 2014). The increasingly diverse school landscape is changing patterns of home-school commuting (Hine, 2009;Murphy, 2007;Shaw et al, 2013) Market oriented schooling systems, such as those in England, assume pupils and their families have the necessary capital to make educational choices (Morgan and Blackmore, 2013).…”

Mixed‐Tenure Neighbourhoods in London: Policy Myth or Effective Device to Alleviate Deprivation?

“…In London, school pupils are generally more segregated at school than in their neighbourhoods (Burgess et al ., 2005), such ‘micro‐public’ spaces playing a key role in shaping patterns of division (Amin, 2002). These scores could thus be inflated by children of owner‐occupied households attending private schools, or high‐performing state schools outside the immediate neighbourhood (Butler and Hamnett, 2011), a practice that leads to higher school segregation for pupils residing in social housing. Therefore, population change and gentrification processes could have a significant impact on the performance of neighbourhoods within this domain.…”