Neoliberal imaginary, school choice, and “new elites” in public secondary schools

Introduction to the special issue: Studying school choice in Canada

“…What we do know is that more and more parents are spending their own time and resources on fundraising (Winton, 2016). Individual parents are paying extra fees and fieldtrip costs for the students who are enrolled in enriched programs (Yoon, 2013(Yoon, , 2016. Hence, it is difficult to assess whether the reductions in government spending on education in fact translates into cost-effectiveness overall, or whether these reductions have been simply replaced by individual parents who bear these costs.…”

“…Also, since most popular schools tend to be located in affluent neighborhoods, it is often students from marginalized neighborhoods who have to travel far to attend them, thus making it more challenging for those children who attend schools outside their neighborhoods (Yoon, 2015). Furthermore, increasing stratification of schools based on the circulation of school league tables adversely shapes learners' identities, which is especially detrimental to disadvantaged students who get labelled as "underachieving" or "underperforming" (Yoon, 2011(Yoon, , 2016(Yoon, , 2017. As such, given the research of market -based education reforms in Canada, it is not clear that the impact of the marketization of educational experience, quality, innovation, cost-effectiveness or outcomes have been positive.…”

“…Contemporary Canadian research on market-based education reforms indicates that school and program choices are becoming increasingly available in both private and public sectors across the country (Bosetti & Gereluk, 2016;Davies & Aurini, 2008;Yoon, 2016). In the private sector, there has been an increase in the number of schools registered as for -profit private and non-profit private schools -that is, independent schools (Davies & Aurini, 2011).…”

“…Likewise, in the public sector, a wide range of enriched programs have been adopted across provinces, ranging from literature to science to language to sports and the arts (Gaskell, 2002;Gaztambide-Fernandez, VanderDussen, & Cairns, 2014;Yoon, 2015). While some programs admit students based on a lottery or a first-come, first-served basis, an increasing number of specialized choice programs are selective and available only for those who are high-achieving students (Gaztambide-Fernandez, Saifer, & Desai, 2013;Taylor, 2006;Yoon, 2011Yoon, , 2016. Also, digital delivery is offered in Vancouver, with virtual learning options for students to take courses online, while Alberta is notable for its thirteen charter schools offered as school choice options (Bosetti, 2004;Bosetti & Gereluk, 2016).…”

“…Families who cannot choose, or who send their children to schools located in neighborhoods with low cultural, economic, and social capital, tend to be further excluded and demoted in market approaches to education (Taylor & MacKay, 2008;Yoon, 2017). Concerns have thus been raised about the extent to which school choice erodes societal goals such as social cohesion and equity in the education systems that promote individual choice and competition (Gaskell, 2001;Levine-Rasky, 2008;Yoon & Gulson, 2010) Finally, an ethnographic study of school choice that focuses on the students' perspective indicates that while the students who are enrolled in enriched programs in public schools of choice experience academic advantage, they also feel stressed, socially challenged, and spatially displaced when crossing boundaries between schools in a city with a high level of inequality and spatial division (Yoon, 2013(Yoon, , 2015(Yoon, , 2016. Also, since most popular schools tend to be located in affluent neighborhoods, it is often students from marginalized neighborhoods who have to travel far to attend them, thus making it more challenging for those children who attend schools outside their neighborhoods (Yoon, 2015).…”