Sociological Contributions to School Choice Policy and Politics Around the Globe: Introduction to the 2020 PEA Yearbook

Abstract

The introduction to the Yearbook provides an overview of the global context of school choice policies and practices, trends in research and reform, and extant knowledge about research on school choice that draw upon the sociology of education. The article also highlights the contributions of the papers included in the Yearbook. The co-editors explain how the studies engage, complement, and extend existing streams of literature by bringing together a collection of contemporary sociological studies from the United States and other countries that illuminate understudied aspects of school choice reform policies, practices, and politics from across the globe. The Yearbook aims to raise the international profile of sociological research on school choice, and document how school choice policies and programs can be understood through a sociological lens, with a focus on how stakeholders perceive, experience, and respond to these reforms in local settings. This Yearbook also offers directions for future studies.

The impact of the ideology of ‘the market’ on the English state school system.

“…Education policies are more concerned with the practicalities of these market conditions being embedded in practice, rather than a fundamental discussion of whether they are desirable and will have the desired outcomes. It is apparent from my data that school leaders and others have not always reacted as politicians might have expected, confirming the view held by many, including Ball (1990) and Potterton (2020), that there is a difference between policy rhetoric and policy reality. In my conclusion, I consider the unintended consequences of education policies, particularly on equality of opportunity for disadvantaged pupils.…”

“…The pragmatic responses centred around funding. This is a clear example of how 'policy reality' differs from 'policy rhetoric' (Potterton, 2020). Leaders were not acting 'ideologically' even though they embraced GM status and academy conversion.…”

“…The 'script' they deliver is one which is shaped by their own interpretations and modifications. Hence, my interest is in the differences between policy rhetoric and policy reality, an approach which Potterton (2020) terms 'critical policy research'.…”

“…The 'prescribed' script for the drama is drawn from the educational policies of successive governments, as analysed in Chapter 2. The discussion of what constitutes 'policy analysis' in Chapter 1, indicates that there is likely to be a difference between 'policy rhetoric' and 'policy reality' (Potterton, 2020). If this proves to be the case, I will find that the 'actors' have not delivered the 'prescribed script' by rote, but through a dynamic process of constant improvisation and re-interpretation.…”

Toward a Global Political Sociology of School Choice Policies

“…In addition, the paper will locate school choice policies within broader policy discourses of marketization, privatization, and commercialization. The political sociology of school choice policies proffered will be constructed through a fulsome engagement with the papers in this 2020 Politics of Education Association Yearbook , edited jointly by Amanda Potterton, Brent Edwards, Ee-Seul Yoon, and Jeanne Powers (this issue).…”