Against-the-Grain School Choice in Neoliberal Times

Abstract

An appreciation of the practices and consequences of ‘against the grain’ secondary school choices needs to be set within some understanding of the wider policy framing of choice, and indeed the nature of ‘mainstream’ choosing, in relation to schooling. Accordingly, this chapter looks briefly at the emergence and recent development of choice in educational policy in the context of neoliberal thinking. It then focuses on practices of school choice, arguing that a finer distinction (that between commitments and preferences) is necessary for understanding the gulf between the rhetoric of choice and the much more nuanced sets of practices and effects revealed in the research. We then discuss the nature of general orientations amongst our sample of parents, highlighting in particular the low incidence of communitarian commitments and the prevalence of instrumental orientations. Finally, the chapter looks at the related issues of ‘hot knowledge’ and parental intervention. Finally, the chapter looks at the related issues of ‘hot knowledge’ and parental intervention.