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School Choice in London and Paris – A Comparison of Middle‐class Strategies
Author(s) -
Benson Michaela,
Bridge Gary,
Wilson Deborah
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/spol.12079
Subject(s) - school choice , middle class , context (archaeology) , class (philosophy) , state (computer science) , service (business) , sociology , public administration , political science , economics , economy , geography , computer science , archaeology , algorithm , artificial intelligence , law
Education is one major public service in which quasi‐markets and other choice‐based mechanisms are now established methods of delivery. The types of school people choose, and the extent to which their choices are realized, have a fundamental impact on the outcomes of any mechanism of school choice. In this article, we provide a comparative analysis of the school choice strategies of middle‐class families in L ondon and P aris. We draw on approximately 200 in‐depth interviews carried out across the two cities. This enables us to investigate the extent to which middle‐class school choice strategies transcend the institutional context provided by both the local (state and private) schools market and national education policy in E ngland and F rance. We discuss these findings in the context of current school choice policy and consider their implications for future policy design.