Parental choice and the rural primary school: Lifestyle, locality and loyalty

Abstract

This paper discusses the geography of parental choice in a rural locale and shows how a group of parents negotiated their way through the process of primary school choice.Using ethnographic data collected through interviews and observations with parents and staff from three rural primary schools in England, the research utilises Bourdieu"s concepts of capital, habitus and field to show how the resources and values the parents held affected the school choices they made. The paper demonstrates that the longerterm resident local parents were influenced not only by their cultural capital but also by familial ties and an emotional commitment to the rural locale and these parents were therefore more inclined to support their local school. In contrast, the more recent newcomer parents used their cultural capital and spatial power to shop around to find what they believed to be the "right" school. The paper argues that the newcomer parents had less allegiance to place and hence to the symbolic position that the school holds within the rural community within which they lived.

Might progress assessments hinder equitable progress? Evidence from England

“…A body of literature claims that, even during pre-elementary and elementary education, formal schooling legitimizes the cultural practices and preferences more typical of the upper and middle classes over those more typical of the lower classes (see, for example, Reay 1995Reay , 1998Vincent et al 2008;Walker and Clark 2010). From the earliest years of schooling, teachers label students as intelligent, average, or slow, and stream them accordingly; these designations are often predicted by social class and have a lasting impact on students' academic confidence (Alcott, 2017;Steedman 1988;Thomas et al 2012).…”

Transformations of spatial relationships in elementary education: A case study of changes in two Czech rural areas since the second half of the 20th century

“…Although most researchers working on small rural schools are in agreement that IESs are culturallyspecific educational entities (e.g. Bell and Sigsworth, 1987;Kalaoja and Pietarinen, 2009;Karlberg-Granlund, 2009;Walker and Clark, 2010), IESs are, particularly in educational policy, perceived as lower-level versions of larger urban schools (Kvalsund, 2009). FESs thus serve as the models of "school normality", and various criteria indicating performance, organization, facilities, etc., are presented in relation to and in comparison with FESs.…”

“…(e.g. Walker and Clark, 2010). Due to the limited capacity of particular educational institutes or attempts to distribute public services evenly, most countries originally adopted a policy of delimiting clear catchment areas for each individual settlement unit including a school.…”

“…The provision of elementary education is a relatively important political issue, which, in the context of overall state governance and economic development, changes over time. The provision of elementary education in rural areas is now often debated in the context of the sustainable development of rural areas, or identities of rural communities in the context of broadly understood spatial policy, planning and management (Kvalsund, 2009;Ribchester, Edwards, 1999;Walker and Clark, 2010).…”

Small Rural Schools in the Primary Education Market: The Example of Turnov Region

“…Tyto typy jsme vymezili jednak na základě syntézy poznatků jiných výzkumníků z českého i mezinárodního prostředí [např. Dvořák et al 2010;Trnková, Knotová, Chaloupková 2010;Bajerski 2011;Bell, Sigsworth 1987;Walker, Clark 2010], jednak na základě vlastních zkušeností z terénu. Každý typ školského obvodu vykazuje určité potenciální příležitosti i rizika týkající se vzdělávacího trhu, z nichž ty klíčové jsme pro větší přehlednost uspořádali do tabulky 1.…”