In an article published by The Drum in
2009, Craig Campbell discusses the impact school choice has had on parents from
many Australian middle class families. 30 years ago ‘school choice’ in
Australia was unheard of, either the local government school was the automatic selection -
or if one's family was Catholic, or had attended elite Protestant colleges,
tradition and faith took care of the school attended (The Drum, 2009). So in
the1980’s when School Marketization (Kenway,
2001 )
was on the rise and parents and students were being viewed as both consumers
and commodities of the schooling process ultimately lead to ‘widespread anxiety and frustration amongst
many middle class families’ (The Drum, 2009).
The school market can be a place of clear winners and losers (The Drum, 2009), this is what Reid (1998) describes as exchange value, students can either have positive or negative value placed upon them. Positive students are (Reid, 1998) “those who lift the schools academic, sporting or cultural performance and image, and who conform to the schools and teachers educational norms” (Pg.51), and those with behavior problems or those that place extra demands on the school are seen to add negative value. In many cases students that don’t hold great exchange value were often avoided by schools, it was these families that quickly realized “it was one thing to choose a school, but it was a very different thing to be chosen by a school” (The Drum, 2009).
Many parents feel the pressure to ‘shop around’, with the idea
now that “only the good are good for the school (Reid, 2009. Pg. 51) parents feel
forced into competitive practices. They keep a close eye on the reputations of
schools, examination results, their children's teachers, their own children and
their friends, and the mass media (The Drum, 2009). In some cases the
competition leads to corruption. There have been cases of parents advantaging
their children by aggressive use of influential contacts, of doing children's
assignments for them, even of attempting to bribe teachers in relation to
selective school entry tests (The Drum, 2009).
The marketization of schools and increased concern about school image has not been a positive experience for many parents. For these families the so-called idea of ‘School Choice’ resulted in to many inequalities and left many households concerned their children were being disadvantaged.
Campbell, C. (2009) Parents anxious over school choice, The Drum.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-02-03/parents-anxious-over-school-choice/282874
Kenway, B. (2001 ). Designer schools, packaged students. Consuming Children: Education -Entertainment - Advertising .
Reid, A. (1998). Going Public: Education Policy and Public Education in Australia.
The school market can be a place of clear winners and losers (The Drum, 2009), this is what Reid (1998) describes as exchange value, students can either have positive or negative value placed upon them. Positive students are (Reid, 1998) “those who lift the schools academic, sporting or cultural performance and image, and who conform to the schools and teachers educational norms” (Pg.51), and those with behavior problems or those that place extra demands on the school are seen to add negative value. In many cases students that don’t hold great exchange value were often avoided by schools, it was these families that quickly realized “it was one thing to choose a school, but it was a very different thing to be chosen by a school” (The Drum, 2009).
Many parents feel the pressure to ‘shop around’, with the idea
now that “only the good are good for the school (Reid, 2009. Pg. 51) parents feel
forced into competitive practices. They keep a close eye on the reputations of
schools, examination results, their children's teachers, their own children and
their friends, and the mass media (The Drum, 2009). In some cases the
competition leads to corruption. There have been cases of parents advantaging
their children by aggressive use of influential contacts, of doing children's
assignments for them, even of attempting to bribe teachers in relation to
selective school entry tests (The Drum, 2009).The marketization of schools and increased concern about school image has not been a positive experience for many parents. For these families the so-called idea of ‘School Choice’ resulted in to many inequalities and left many households concerned their children were being disadvantaged.
Campbell, C. (2009) Parents anxious over school choice, The Drum.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-02-03/parents-anxious-over-school-choice/282874
Kenway, B. (2001 ). Designer schools, packaged students. Consuming Children: Education -Entertainment - Advertising .
Reid, A. (1998). Going Public: Education Policy and Public Education in Australia.
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